A serving prisoner has been charged before Milimani Law Courts with defrauding a job seeker Ksh800,000 claiming he would assist her in securing a job at State House.
Patrick Shikure Amere admitted to having obtained the money from Dr. Selina Vukinu Ambe alleging he would assist her to get a job as a Human Resource Manager at the State House.
The convict who is serving life imprisonment at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison was not punished for the current offence as the court called for further investigations to bring to book his accomplices who have been conning unsuspecting members of the public huge sums of money while in prison.
Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo directed the Director of Criminal Investigations to lodge fresh investigations into the matter and establish the offence under which Shikure is serving for life imprisonment.
“In view of the seriousness of the offence, l hereby direct the DCI to investigate the matter deeper with a view of arresting those who were working in cahoots with the accused before me,” Kagendo ordered.
In an expression of shock and bewilderment, Kagendo wondered how electronic gadgets including mobile phones find their way to serving prisoners in the highly secured prison in the country where prisoners are expected to communicate through laid down procedures.
The magistrate heard that the offence was orchestrated in a complex matrix going by the fact that the application letter of the complainant seeking the government job and a letter of appointment bearing the signature of the Head of Public Service and the Secretary to the Cabinet Joseph Kinyua were retrieved from the office of Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa.
She ordered the DCI to file a comprehensive report on how prisoners are allowed to retain phones and electronic gadgets unless they are working in cahoots with prison warders who share the loot with them.
Kagendo was told that besides the appointment letter, an Executive Order Number 1 purportedly issued by President Uhuru Kenyatta was forwarded to Dr Selina confirming that she had been appointed as a Human Resources Manager at the State House.
The purported executive order which was produced in court showed that the complainant was expected to report on duty on September 9, 2020.
The prosecution through Anderson Gikunda said the convict while in prison had been communicating all through with the complainant via Facebook account and WhatsApp number 0758185891.
In a bid to hoodwink the complainant, the accused told her via WhatsApp that the original appointment letter would be dropped to her via a government-driven vehicle.
The prisoner admitted the facts as presented by the state and opted not to mitigate asking the court to pass a verdict as it deems fit.
Shikure is said to have obtained the money on diverse dates between July 24 and September 11, 2020.
The magistrate observed that the accused is not remorseful at all yet he drained the accounts of the complainant in two tranches.
“In my view, the accused does not appear remorseful at all and he appears to have nothing to lose since he is serving a life sentence in jail,”Kagendo said.
She however ordered the convict to be remanded in custody until February 22 for record and sentencing.
