Kawangware man charged with stealing mkokoteni
A man who hired a handcart only to vanish with it has been charged with theft at the Kibera law courts.
Japheth Makara is accused of stealing the handcart worth Sh200,000 from Antony Wahome in Kawangware, Nairobi on January 5.
Makara had hired the handcart, which is commonly known as mkokoteni, to use in carrying empty jerricans he was selling within the Kawangware area and was required to pay Sh100 daily.
He complied within three weeks only to disappear with it.
Wahome reported him to the police and he was arrested.
Makara pledged to return the handcart but disappeared and switched off his mobile phone.
On January 5, Wahome spotted him at a bar in the area and alerted police who arrested him.
On Monday when he was arraigned before court, he told senior principal magistrate Derrick Kutto that his brother had gone to collect the mkokoteni at a store in Gikomba to return it to the owner and was allowed more time to take it to the court but did not.
He was then charged after failing to bring the handcart to court. He denied the charges.
The suspect was released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 and an alternative bond of Sh100,000.
The case will be mentioned on January 22.