Alvin Linus Chivondo, a 22-year-old man charged with shoplifting from Naivas Supermarket in April, has been charged with a similar offence.
The suspected serial shoplifter was arraigned at a Nairobi court on Monday, July 25.
Chivondo faced a second charge of being in possession of marijuana (bhang) with a street value of Ksh2,000. He denied the charge.
The suspect was arrested on May 19 after allegedly attempting to steal maize flour from a Naivas Supermarket branch located along Ronald Ngala Street and locked up at Central Police station.
The arrest came a month after he was handed a 1-year sentence with an alternative of a Ksh 100,000 fine for a similar offence.
Chief magistrate Wendy Micheni passed the sentence after Chivondo pleaded guilty to stealing 5kgs of rice, 5 litres of cooking oil, 2kgs of sugar and other items valued at Ksh3,165.
The casual labour, in his mitigation, told the court that he and his family slept hungry for three days before opting to steal the food items.
“I have a four-month-old baby and I couldn’t feed my family. Your honour you can see I only stole food items. I can’t feed my family since I lost my job,” Chivondo pleaded with the magistrate.
He attracted sympathy from Kenyans and the political elite.
Alvin Chivondo bailed out
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko bailed him out and offered him a job at his Sonko Rescue Team offices in the city.
On his part, former prime minister Raila Odinga faulted the court for the sentence, calling for the unconditional release of Chivondo.
“Let Alvin Linus Chivondo be released unconditionally!. Criminals are now getting a reprieve to campaign freely, while petty offenders are being jailed. Let the courts get their priorities right, for once, you can’t jail a man for trying to feed his family,” Raila stated.
