A Mombasa magistrate on Monday, October 3, offered to buy a suspect a shirt after he made an emotional appeal in court.
The suspect, Richard Christopher Odhiambo, told Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Vincent Adet that he was suffering in Shimo La Tewa prison after authorities allegedly declined to give him any clothes.
The suspect claimed he had been forced to wear torn clothes after the prison authorities said they couldn’t give him clothes because he was yet to be sentenced.
“I plead with you to order, the facility to provide me with clothes, I have nothing to wear not even an inner-wear. They declined to give me clothes saying that am yet to be sentenced and am truly suffering. I walk around naked with torn shorts exposing my private parts. I have nothing to cover my nakedness. I plead with you to come to my rescue,” Odhiambo pleaded with the court.
He further requested to be transferred to a prison near Kisumu, where he said his family would easily access him and provide him with basic needs.
In a quick rejoinder, state counsel Vallery Ongeti told the court that she was not in a position to assist Odhiambo because he was not a remandee at the Shimo La Tewa prison.
Odhiambo appeared in court in a badly torn shirt and shorts that left his buttocks exposed. He also had no shoes.
Touched, the magistrate promised to buy Odhiambo a shirt.
The suspect is facing defilement charges.
The prosecution alleges that on diverse dates, between June 8 and 16, 2022 at Mwahima area in Likoni sub-county, the accused person unlawfully and intentionally defiled an eight-year-old child.
The matter will be mentioned in court next week.
In May, Adet hit headlines after leading an impromptu fundraiser in court to support a couple that had been charged with stealing a bale of wheat flour.
The woman identified as Saumu Ali was overwhelmed by emotions as she narrated to the court why she stole the flour.
Adet kicked off the fundraiser by handing over Ksh 1000 to the Court Orderly and asked members of the public, journalists, and court officials to contribute any amount towards Saumu’s food kitty.
“I have considered the circumstances of the offence and I sympathise with her situation. With three kids under her care, and no source of income, I am of the view that let us buy her a bale of wheat flour and some meat for today,” the magistrate said while releasing Saumu and her husband Evans Odhiambo.
