A 25-year-old woman is in trouble for failing to report that her boyfriend, who was shot dead by police in her flat in Githurai estate, Nairobi, was an armed robber.
Ann Njenga, who hosted Samuel Karui alias Sammy Steppa in her home, is now charged with associating with a person she knew to be in unlawful possession of a firearm.
The prosecution is now treating her as an associate of the deceased robbery suspect, who is accused of being behind a spate of robberies and murders in Kasarani Sub-county, because she did not report to the police.
Karui was killed in a shoot-out with undercover police officers outside Ameya Gate Apartments at Githurai 44 on October 29. He had fired at the officers while fleeing from Ms Njenga's house after being cornered.
The deceased suspect was found with a revolver, which he had allegedly used in his alleged criminal activities.
Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) say Ms Njenga knew that Karui had been involved in a series of violent robberies and murders, which he is accused of committing with others at large.
The officers who killed Karui had received information that he was hiding at Ms Njenga's house and went to the house. One of the officers met Ms Njenga on the stairs leaving the house and asked her about Karui's whereabouts and she confirmed that he was sleeping at her house.
The officer told her to keep quiet, but she raised the alarm to alert Karui that the police had come for him, prompting the officer to release her and flee while calling for reinforcements from colleagues who had taken up strategic positions outside the house.
Karui came out of the house and allegedly opened fire on the officers waiting for him and was shot dead.
No police officer was injured, but several members of the public in a nearby illegal liquor den were hit by stray bullets and taken to Kenyatta National Hospital.
Officers returned to the building and arrested Ms Njenga. Police recovered a bullet head, a spent cartridge, two mobile phones and other items suspected to belong to Karui from Ms Njenga's house.
The suspect denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Caroline Mugo of Makadara Law Courts and through her lawyer Norah Kaggia pleaded for lenient bail conditions.
Ms Kaggia told the court that Ms Njenga is a mother of a child under the age of two, adding that she has a fixed abode in Githurai and is therefore not a flight risk.
The suspect was released on Sh100,000 bail with an alternative cash bail of Sh70,000.
The case will come up for mention on January 29, while the hearing will start on April 29 next year.
Earlier this month, a 19-year-old woman was charged with the same offence. The teenager was found at her boyfriend's house after her lover engaged detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a shoot-out, wounding four of them before being shot dead on October 8.
Ivy Muthoni was accused of associating with Dancun Ndinya, who was wanted for violent robberies in Nairobi, Kajiado and Embu counties.
One of the officers injured by Ndinya died of his injuries while receiving treatment at Nairobi West Hospital. She has denied the charges and is in custody awaiting a ruling on her bail and bond application.
