Sixteen men were yesterday charged with maliciously damaging office property of a Nairobi MCA in Mathare.
John Kamau alias Roro, Augustine Angoya alias Captain, Cleton Kivasa alias Omari, Alex Kuvisya and Kelvin Kimanthi among others were accused of destroying the property of Mlango Kubwa MCA Patricia Mutheu.
They allegedly committed the offence on April 11 at Kiboro in Mathare.
The court heard they destroyed a laptop, two office tables, chairs, cabinet shelf and carpet among other things.
According to court documents, the accused persons, who belong to a youth group, stormed Mutheu's office around 10am in protest against job discrimination.
They did not find the MCA and demanded to talk to her on the phone.
The MCA's office employees tried to calm them down and asked them to write a formal letter and book an appointment with her but they refused.
One of Mutheu's employees called her and put her on speaker as demanded by the accused persons.
Reportedly, the conversation did not go well as the accused claimed Mutheu did not speak to them well.
They broke into the office and destroyed the items before leaving, chanting "Mutheu must go".
The MCA was called and directed the matter to be reported to the police who launched investigations leading to their arrest.
The 16 denied the charges before senior principal magistrate Angelo Kithinji and pleaded for lenient bond terms, saying they were of humble means.
The court released them on a cash bail of Sh30,000 or a bond of Sh50,000 each. The case will be heard on July 30.
(Edited by R.Wamochie)
