A Makadara court has adjourned the hearing of a case in which six Kayole police officers were charged with robbery with violence.
Wilson Kiprotich, Daniel Kipkorir, Alex Kandie, Simon Mwandiki, Carolyne Waithera and Kelvin Marangu in October denied eight counts related to robbery with violence and conspiracy to defraud.
They were charged alongside a Cameroonian national Esome Jean Baptistae, Petronila Njeri and Martin Mbae. The officers were arrested by Pangani counterparts who were on undercover patrol. Two other suspects of Somali origin are still at large.
On Tuesday, the hearing commenced, with the complainant, Abdullahi Hussein Yussuf, testifying how a deal to exchange USD60,000 for Kenya shillings turned sour.
Yusuff, a businessman who sells clothes in Eastleigh, recalled how on September 27, 2019, he, together with his friend by the name Mohammed Hassan Mohamud, was lured into a trap.
The two were approached by a man of Somalian origin who told them that there was a Cameroonian who works with the UN and had in his possession Sh6 million and since he was travelling to his country, he needed to exchange the cash for US dollars.
He was then advised to rent a hotel room where the transaction would take place as the amount was huge. He agreed.
A CCTV footage played in court showed Yussuf and Mohammed booking a hotel room number 143 at Barwako Lodge along 8th street in Eastleigh. They then waited for the Somalian broker to come with the foreigner so the exchange could take place.
Yusuf told court that he had earlier called a friend by the name Ismael Mohamed and informed him of the deal.
Ismael then organised an undercover security team from Pangani to man the area as the transaction took place.
When Esome arrived, he asked him if he was ready for the exchange. He said he was. He went and brought his foreign currency. He had $50,000 in his pocket While his friend Mohamed had $10,000.
And as he handed part of the cash to Esome, Mwandike entered the room while armed with a pistol, introduced himself as a police officer and ordered them to surrender the cash.
He testified that Kipkorir and Kandie also joined in. The two Somalian brokers are seen in the CCTV leaving the room.
Esome handed part of the cash but the complainant resisted, and as he tried to dash out of the room, they pulled him back.
“I then decided to throw part of the money outside so the CCTV could capture what was happening,” he said.
Mwandike is captured picking the cash that was thrown outside before leaving in haste. The complainant, together with Mohammed, walk out while shouting that they have been robbed of cash.
It's then that the officers from Pangani intervened and arrested Kipkorir and Kandi. Upon interrogation, they said their colleague Mwandike had fled with the money.
The case was adjourned after one accused, Njeri, complained that she was sick, needed to eat and could not sit for long.
Nyaga directed that further hearing and cross-examination resume in January.
