- She had been charged with loitering and remanded for two weeks.
- She had parted ways with an abusive boyfriend and has a nine year old child.
A Nairobi woman has told court that she loiters in the streets of downtown and does prostitution to earn a living.
When Mercy Gatwiri, 32, was invited to a Nairobi magistrate's chamber on Wednesday, she smiled, looked up and requested that she be allowed to say something, perhaps believing that this was her only opportunity to convince chief magistrate Roslyne Oganyo to free her.
She had been charged with loitering and remanded for two weeks. The magistrate gave her the go-ahead and she seized the moment, pleading to be set free.
"Your honour, I do loitering and prostitution in the CBD because I had nothing to do for a living. I was initially staying with my boyfriend but we 'divorced' after he became violent and abusive," she said.
She said she had two children but one died and the other one is suffering in her absence. "I was left with one who is nine years old. I promise that I will never be found again on the wrong side of the law," she said.
Gatwiri was arrested in the company of her friends when the police carried out a raid in the city. She sought forgiveness, saying she was a first-time offender — a claim that was corroborated by the prosecution.
In her ruling, Oganyo acquitted her on condition that she will never appear before her again. "This court has acquitted you, but I have marked your face, so the next time I see you here you will not walk free," she said.
The magistrate advised her to stop loitering in the CBD and look for an honest source of income to sustain her family.
"Why do you do loitering for a living, yet you are not disabled? Please, think of your child and find something decent to do," she said.
Gatwiri, according to a police report, had dropped out of school in Standard 8.
(Edited by F'Orieny)