House help who stole Sh1 million from sick employer admits theft
Theft suspect Roseline Kahega in the dock at Makadara Magistrate's Court.
A part-time domestic worker who stole USD 7,000 (Sh1,050,000) from her ailing employer in Nairobi before being intercepted by police in Kericho County on her way to her rural home in Vihiga County has pleaded guilty to theft charges.
Roseline Kahega was charged with stealing money contrary to section 268 (1) read with section 275 of the Penal Code.
She stole the money from the home of her employer, Libin Abdi Mohamed, in Eastleigh on October 13. Ms Mohamed had collected the money for a surgical operation she is due to undergo abroad.
The complainant, who is ill, is due to travel to India for the operation. She had received the money from relatives and friends through international money transfer platforms and kept the funds at her house until the travel dates.
She then hired Ms Kahenga on a part-time basis to help clean her house.
On the day in question, Ms Kahega did not turn up for work and when she was called it was found that she had switched off her mobile phone, prompting Ms Mohammed to confirm if everything was in order in her house when she discovered the money missing.
Ms Mohammed reported the matter at the California Police Station.
Police checked the PSV booking offices of companies operating on the Nairobi-Vihiga route after establishing that she was from the county and found that Ms Kahega had boarded a bus to Vihiga.
The bus had already left Nairobi by the time the police received her travel details and the officers sought assistance from their counterparts in Kericho, who arrested Ms Kahega.
She was taken to Kericho police station where she was searched and a silver purse containing money was recovered from her. A bus ticket indicating that she was travelling to Mbale town was also retrieved as well as a bracelet belonging to Ms Mohammed.
Ms Kahega was kept in cells at the station before being picked up by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Shauri Moyo offices who escorted her to Nairobi on October 16.
She admitted the charges after being arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi.
The suspect was remanded in custody till October 25 when the prosecution will present its case against her and tender the exhibits including the pulse, the money and the bus ticket to the court before she is convicted and sentenced.
