Four men charged with stealing Huduma Namba registration gadgets

Four men have been charged with stealing five Huduma Namba tablets.

Adams Mwasame, Timothy Mutunga, Boniface Ongoma and Samuel Muriithi were hired by the government to install software into the IDEMIA MORPHO gadgets at the Government Press offices in Nairobi. 

They were arraigned yesterday before chief magistrate Francis Andayi. Each was separately charged.

Mutunga, Ongoma, Muriithi were charged with stealing one tablet each, while Mwasame was charged with stealing two. Mwasame and Mutunga had earlier pleaded guilty but later changed their pleas and denied wrongdoing.

The court heard that on April 23 at the Government Press offices in Nairobi, Mwasame stole two tablets valued at Sh70,000 — the property of the ICT ministry's state Department of Broadcasting and Communication. He was also charged with handling stolen goods.

Ongoma allegedly stole a tablet and its charger — all valued at Sh38,000. The rest were charged with stealing tablets valued at Sh35,000 each.

Before the change of plea, Mwasame and Mutunga told Andayi that they took the tablets from the stores at the Government Press.

The tablets were to be used in the ongoing Huduma Namba registration. The accused had told the court that some of the tablets were not compatible with the software. They, therefore, took them home so they could use them as mobile phones.

They were granted Sh30,000 bail or Sh50,000 bond each.

The case will be heard on June 4.

(Edited by F'Orieny)