A Nairobi County Government employee suspected of being among the gangsters who raided a bar in the Kasambuni area in Ruaraka, Nairobi, armed with guns before robbing revellers of their mobile phones and an unknown amount of cash on May 23, has been charged with robbery with violence.
Mr Clinton Onyango, who is employed as a sweeper, was charged with robbery with violence contrary to Section 295 read with Section 296 (2) of the Penal Code for allegedly robbing Liz Ochola of her mobile phone valued at Sh15,000.
He is accused of committing the offence with others, not before the court and is said to have threatened Ms Ochola with actual violence during the alleged robbery.
Suspected gangsters armed with an AK47 rifle, a pistol and a knife stormed the club at around 10 pm and ordered all the revellers to lie down.
The thugs threatened to shoot anyone who refused to obey their orders. They then rifled through the pockets of the revellers, stealing their mobile phones and an unknown amount of money.
After the robbery, the thugs allegedly fired twice into the air to scare the public as they fled on a motorbike.
The incident was later reported to the police and officers from Ruaraka police station visited the scene.
Police recovered spent cartridges from the scene. The cartridges were taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters for ballistic analysis.
Three days later, three suspects were arrested in connection with the robbery and detained at Ruaraka Police Station while the DCI continued to investigate the incident.
Others arrested alongside Mr Onyango include Bariso Jatan, Raphael Oduor and Chrsipine Owana.
However, only Mr Onyango was positively identified by Ms Ochola as one of the thugs who robbed her at the bar.
The others were not charged with the crime.
Mr Onyango denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Eric Mutunga of the Makadara Law Courts.
Mr Mutunga remanded him in custody and ordered a preliminary report before granting him bail.
The case will be mentioned on 13 July when the social investigation report is filed in court.
