A man allegedly found with a female Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) officer’s certificate of appointment after she was robbed of the same in a matatu along Juja road in Nairobi was charged with violent robbery.
Mr Elijah Mwita Maroa was charged with robbery with violence where he is accused of robbing KDF’s Mary Asoyo of a handbag, an umbrella and a shawl in Starehe sub county on January 14.
Other items stolen from Sergeant Asoyo include a blouse, her KDF identification card and a mobile phone. All items stolen from the officer during the robbery are valued at Sh19,200.
Mr Maroa is facing an additional charge of being in possession of public stores contrary to section 324 (2) of the penal code where he is accused of having a KDF’s men’s overall at the time of his arrest at City Park in Parklands, Nairobi on January 16.
He is also facing a charge of handling stolen property contrary to section 322 (1) of the penal code as read with section 322 (2) of the criminal procedure code after he was allegedly found with Ms Asoyo’s KDF identification card.
Ms Asoyo had boarded the matatu in Huruma heading to town where she was to get another matatu to the Department of Defence (DoD) Headquarters in Hurlingham area of Nairobi where she works.
Along the way, three men who were among the passengers in the matatu turned out to be robbers.
They confronted her while armed with a knife and robbed her of the handbag which contained the items while threatening to stab her with the knife.
She had pleaded with the matatu’s conductor not to allow them out as they had robbed her but the tout kept quiet and let the men go away. She also alighted and walked back to Huruma.
Mr Maroa was arrested by General Service Unit (GSU) officers at the City Park allegedly with a KDF’s men’s overall and upon search, Ms Asoyo’s card was allegedly found on him.
He was escorted to Parklands police station before he was handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Starehe offices.
The accused person denied the charges before Senior Resident Magistrate Mercy Malingu of Makadara Law Courts.
He pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms through lawyer Alice Maina claiming he is jobless. The suspect was released on a bond of Sh500, 000 without an option of a cash bail.
