• Eight paid Sh5,000 bail upon arrest, after case magistrate ordered that the bail be utilised
• Money paid via M-Pesa to National Police Service is meant to ensure suspect attends court
Failure by an M-Pesa platform operated by police to refund the money paid as cash bail by suspects upon arrest has landed Safaricom in court with a legal suit seeking compensation.
Also sued are the Inspector General of police, Interior ministry and the Attorney-General.
According to suit papers, eight Kenyans who were accused of creating disturbance paid police cash bail but the money has not been refunded to them since 2016.
The eight say they had paid bail to the M-Pesa platform provided by police immediately they were arrested. They are Juliana Awino, Patrick Onsembi, Winnie Akoth, Esther Nyamweya, Doreen Okongo, Margaret Mwamba and Pamela Wasuda. They each paid Sh5,000 upon arrest.
The money paid via M-Pesa which directly goes to the National Police Service is meant to ensure a suspect attends court.
After they were arraigned, the magistrate imposed a cash bail of Sh10,000 on each individual and directed that the money they had earlier given to police be utilised for same.
However, when they tried to retrieve the money from the platform, it declined to refund which forced them to look for cash to deposit instead, meaning the suspects have paid two separate cash bails. One imposed by police upon arrest and another by the court.
Aggrieved by same, they sued through lawyer Suyianka Lempa who now says the failure has resulted in violation of their rights.
The eight had been charged with the offence of creating disturbance sometime in 2016.
In their suit papers, they argue that even though the law allows police through an OCS to issue cash bail to suspects, the officers are under obligation to return the funds once the suspect in question attends court.
In the present case, police were ordered to convert the cash into bail issued by the magistrate when the accused attended court and their failure to do so amounts to violation of a court order.
They further said the failure by the M-Pesa system and the subsequent requirement that they find an alternative source of cash in a short time or face imprisonment resulted in violation of their rights.
"The petitioners continue to suffer for failure of the police to return the money resulting in the petitioners owing money to their creditors since December 2016 and thus causing their reputations to suffer," the court was told.
They now want the court to order for a refund of their money and also award them compensation for damages caused to their reputation.
Edited by R.Wamochie