A man who was charged at a Nairobi court with stealing a video camera from a foreign journalist has pleaded guilty to the charges.
Zablon Wachira pleaded guilty to the charges before senior principal magistrate Dolphina Alego.
Wachira was charged with the offence of stealing the said camera, battery and external light on September 6, at the Sarova Stanley Hotel
The journalist and her colleagues had camped in the hotel waiting to interview some of the delegates who participated in the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi.
The camera, make Sony Rxw-x70 valued at Sh547,127 was the property of ARD radio which was entitled to Schenk Jenny who is a photo journalist.
Jenny told the court that she had been in the country since March and that her stay in the country would lapse in September 2024.
She says she was preparing to interview some of the guests who participated in the Climate Summit.
"Your honour I was preparing to interview some of the guests who visited the country during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi and we had camped at the hotel when the offence occurred," she told the court.
The court heard that Jenny was in search of a quiet place where she could conduct the interview.
She left the camera with her colleague and went out for about 30 minutes.
In return, she realized that the camera was missing,
"I realized that the camera was missing and when I asked my colleague she said it was stolen without her noticing," Jenny said.
They reported the matter to the hotel management who helped them to report the matter to Central police station DCI.
On September 7, the DCI called the hotel management and informed them that they had arrested two men with a video camera suspected to have been stolen.
When they went to Central police station Jenny and her colleague confirmed the camera to be the one which was stolen.
The suspect appeared before the court and pleaded guilty to the charges of stealing and confirmed before the court that he didn't own the items.
The court found Wachira guilty of the offence of stealing contrary to the law.
Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego will give the sentence on September 19.
