A man who had earlier pleaded guilty in the SIM swap case involving former OCS Samson Taalam has now changed his plea to not guilty.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego at the Milimani Law Courts, Dennis Masavi Musyimi had the charge sheet read afresh and denied fraudulently replacing Taalam’s phone line, which was allegedly used to solicit money from the public for personal gain.
His lawyer, Kioko, urged the court to grant him reasonable bail, noting that Musyimi is a young man who recently completed school and works at an M-Pesa shop in Pipeline. Kioko further argued that his client was not a flight risk.
The defence also sought a downward review of bail terms, pointing out that the other two accused had been released on a bond of Sh250,000.
“The other two accused persons were granted a bond of Sh250,000. We are asking the court to review the terms downwards in fairness,” Kioko submitted.
He added that the first accused, Nzomo Kimanzi, was a mason who is married and a father of two school-going children, and also deserved lenient terms.
The prosecution, however, applied to have the matter transferred to Court 7 for consolidation with a similar pending case.
“This matter is related to another case pending before Court 7. We request that the file be allocated there for purposes of consolidation,” the prosecutor said.
Magistrate Alego directed probation officers to prepare a pre-bail report and scheduled the case for mention on August 26 for the report and further directions.
The offence is alleged to have been committed between June 16 and June 19 this year, when the phone line was in the custody of the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA), which was investigating Taalam over the death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang in a police cell.
Musyimi was charged alongside James Mutemi Munyithya and Nzomo Kimanzi, who both denied the charges and were set to face trial.
The three jointly face a count of computer fraud contrary to Section 26(1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act No. 5 of 2018.
The matter is set for August 26, 2025, for a pre-bail report and further directions.
