Pastor charged with possession of tablet that was stolen from the police
A Nairobi pastor has charged in court after he was arrested with a tablet belonging to the National Police Service (NPS) in contravention of section 324 (2) of the penal code.
Mr Bramwel Mwangala was arrested at Kayole Police Station while allegedly making a call using the said tablet.
The accused person was arrested by an officer who saw him using a tablet resembling those used by the police. Upon examining the tablet, the officer ascertained that it branded Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and had messages from the state statistics agency.
The officer interrogated him before placing him in custody.
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The tablet is among equipment that were used by KNBS in the 2019 nationwide population census before they were handed over to the NPS for use as a digital Occurrence Book (OB) by the police.
The tablet in question is believed to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained by the accused.
Mr Mwangala told the police during the investigations that he had been gifted the tablet by a friend.
However, he denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Gerald Mutiso of Makadara Law Courts, saying he is a pastor at a church in Kayole.
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He sought lenient bail and bond terms through lawyer Sharon Otieno, who told the court that being a church minister, her client is not flight risk.
Mr Mwangala said he leads a congregation of 12 members in the Powerful Blood of the Christ Ministry.
The accused was granted a bond of Sh100,000 with a surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on July 30, 2023 for a pretrial and fixing of hearing dates.
The police officer who arrested Mr Mwangala and a colleague who investigated the case are listed as the only witnesses in the case.
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