How tenant’s dispute with caretaker over rent turned into violent robbery
A 29-year-old man who allegedly accosted and robbed the caretaker of an apartment where he lives in Tassia estate in Nairobi is facing charges of robbery with violence contrary to section 295 as read with section 296 (1) of the penal code.
Mr Paul Kundu is accused of robbing Maurice Onyango of Sh40,000 in an incident that happened on June 12, 2023. He is also accused of using violence on the complainant during the alleged robbery.
On that day Mr Onyango had left the premises, where Mr Kundu lives, to deposit rent collections at the bank when he was accosted by Mr Kundu who allegedly assaulted and robbed him of the cash.
Mr Onyango was rescued by members of the public after he raised an alarm while Mr Kundu was still assaulting him. He reported the incident at Embakasi Police Station leading to the suspect’s arrest.
Apparently, Mr Kundu had been angered by Mr Onyango for locking his house over rent arrears and the matter had been reported to the area chief.
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The accused person denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi of the Makadara Law Courts and sought for lenient bail and bond terms. He claimed that other tenants also have disputes with Mr Onyango.
He was released on a bond of Sh300, 000. The case will be mentioned on August 10 for a pre-trial and fixing of hearing dates.
Mr Kundu was on December 2, 2022 charged with offensive conduct contrary to section 94 (1) of the penal code after confronting police officers in Tassia within Embakasi in Nairobi on November 30 while claiming he could get them fired.
He is accused of uttering words “I can beat you up and there is nowhere you can take me. There is no law you know… I will get you arrested and I can get you fired!” to corporal Caroline Nkatha and police constable Caroline Sabina of Tassia Police Post in Embakasi.
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Mr Kundu is also facing an additional charge of creating a disturbance contrary to section 95 (1) (b) of the penal code after allegedly attempting to punch officer Sabina who was driving a police car.
On the material day, Police Constable Sabina and her colleague were driving within the estate while on security patrol when they met a 15-year-old juvenile riding a motorcycle on a public road and stopped him.
They sent him to bring a parent before he returned with Mr Kundu, who is a businessman in the area. Mr Kundu is said to have confronted the officers instead of engaging them in a conversation over the matter and became unruly and started attempting to punch officer Sabina.
The suspect denied the charges before the same magistrate who released him on a cash bail of Sh30,000 and urged him to try settle the matter out of the court with the two police officers.
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