Magistrate forces police officer to buy face mask for suspect

A magistrate forced a police officer to buy a face mask for a suspect after bringing him to court without one.

"Bwana officer, I can't waste my time listening to people with no face mask. Take this man away or get him a face mask," the Nairobi Magistrate furiously said.

The magistrate wondered how the police were handling suspects without masks amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Sir, I just don't have a face mask," the officer replied.

But the magistrate remained adamant saying, “I don’t care, get him a mask and it’s only after he gets one that he can come back here”.

The officer didn’t have an option but to get the suspect a beautiful new kitenge mask for the case to proceed.

An Indian man facing traffic charges caused laughter at a Kibera court with a 'Kidogo, Kidogo’ phrase.

"Mimi naajua kizungu kidogo na pia Kiswahili kidogo. Tuongee zote kidogo kidogo tutaelewana (I understand some little Kiswahili and English. Let’s use both we’ll understand each other," he said

Confused, Kibera senior principal magistrate Derrick Kuto asked, "Wewe bwana, what is kidogo kidogo? What are you telling us? In court, we don't talk kidogo kidogo. It is either you speak English or Swahili. What language do you want us to use, is it Indian?"

The man smiled and opted to use Indian language.

He had been charged with absconding a court session.

Kuto ruled that the matter remains pending until an interpreter is brought to court.

Covid-19 has made it hard economically for many Kenyans so much that a suspect told a magistrate he could only afford Sh50 for a Sh400 fine.

"I can only raise Sh50, which is what I have here. Sh400 is too much for me. Please have mercy on me as I left my young son at my neighbours place," the man pleaded with a Nairobi magistrate.

The magistrate, however, said, "Fining you Sh400 is like the court has forgiven you. Now, how can we assist you? Stop joking and pay the fine”.

"Sir, I can fuliza [borrow from Safaricom mobile banking platform] but the officers took my phone. Allow them to give it back to me," he said.

The magistrate asked the investigating officer in the case about the phone but he said he was not aware about it.

The magistrate ordered him  to look into the suspects’s phone issues and report back the matter .