Woman charged with stealing Sh1.4m from nonagenarian

A woman hired to take care of a 96-year-old man has been charged with stealing Sh1.4 million from him.

Ms Esther Wangui Njonjo, 30, was arraigned before Karatina Magistrate Sandrah Kosgei and is accused of stealing the money from Sospeter Njogu Mahihu while serving as his caretaker.

The elderly man is a younger brother of the one-time powerful Coast provincial commissioner Eliud Mahihu.

Court records show that she allegedly stole Sh1,438,540 from the nonagenarian between January and December 2021 in Karatina town, Mathira East sub-county, Nyeri County.

Ms Njonjo denied the charges and was released on a Sh500,000 bond. The prosecution has lined up at least three witnesses to testify in the case.

Momentary confusion

There was momentary confusion in the courtroom as Ms Njonjo was taking a plea when some members of the complainant’s family objected to her being charged, arguing that the matter could be settled out of court.

But the investigating officer, Eliud Odhiambo, told the court that although the objectors were members of the family, they were not the complainants.

He said the complainant was one Mary Muthoni, on behalf of her father, who is said to be sickly.

“The amount (of money) the accused is alleged to have stolen could be higher as investigations are still ongoing and the charge sheet can be amended with more charges likely to be preferred against the suspect,” Mr Odhiambo said.

Following the confusion, Ms Kosgei instructed the local probation officer to follow up on the matter with the family to verify whether indeed there were any talks for a possible out-of-court settlement.

The court also heard that Ms Muthoni was out of the country and the matter could not proceed. The magistrate directed that the case be mentioned on April 25.