House help jailed over Sh400, 000 theft from employer, sending to pastor

A city house help who stole Sh462, 615 ($4, 000) from her employer and took the all money to a con “pastor” claimed to have been brainwashed before she was slapped with a two years jail term for the theft.

Faith Ondisa pleaded guilty to charges of stealing the dollars from Mary Mwatika on March 22 in the Lavington area in Nairobi. Ondisa said she did not spend a single coin from the loot.

She was sentenced to pay the cash or serve a two years imprisonment term by resident magistrate William Tulel of Kibera law courts after she admitted the theft.

Ondisa told Mr Tullel that she was brainwashed and made to steal the money and that she was not herself when she stole from her employer.

The court heard that Mwatika returned to the house at around 7pm and found the house girl missing.

She enquired from security and she was informed that Ondisa had been seen leaving with a suitcase which she told the security guard that she was taking for repair.

She checked in the wardrobe where she had kept the money and found it missing.

Ms Mwatika reported the matter to the police and Ms Ondisa was traced to a house in Donholm estate in Nairobi.

She confessed to police that she had taken the money and claimed that her pastor must have used charms to convince her to take the money to him.

She had met the alleged pastor on her way from a hospital. He convinced her to take the money to him to see miracles in her family.

Ms Ondisa obeyed the trickster's ploy and took the money to him together with her phone and was told to go away without looking back and she went  only to discover to have been tricked.

In court, she begged to be allowed to pay the money in installments but her pleas were rejected by Mr Tullel.