A street boy who collects garbage in Westlands and its environs on Monday shocked a Kibera court with his British accent when he took to the dock to defend himself.
Griffin Nyongesa pleaded with magistrate Jacqueline Ojwang on why she should not send him to jail for the offence he had committed.
He spoke after pleading guilty to being in possessing 24 rolls of bhang worth Sh1,200.
According to the charge sheet, Nyongesa committed the offence on June 9 along Chiromo lane in Westlands within Nairobi County.
Court prosecutor Brenda Maiyo told the court that the accused person was arrested after the officers who were on normal patrol noticed he was acting suspiciously.
They arrested him and found on him rolls of bhang valued at Sh1,200.
In his mitigation, the man who seemed well educated said that he was a family man and had only Sh 1,000 between him and poverty.
“As you see me here your honor, I have only Sh1,000 between me and poverty, please forgive me,” he told the magistrate.
It is how he articulated himself in the British accent that shocked the entire court as normally, most of the street families are considered illiterate.
Nyongesa told the court that he has been living on the streets for over 16 years and has been smoking bhang as he collected garbage.
“I smoke bhang so that I can collect garbage without stress,” he said.
The magistrate directed that the matter be mentioned on June 22 and ordered a probation report to be presented to the court on the same.
