A Nairobi security guard who allegedly stole the gear used to lower the casket into a grave during burial is facing charges of stealing in contravention of section 281 of the Penal Code.
Eric Shisia is accused of stealing the gear, among other items, including two sets of carpets, one church chair, a trailer door, and an indoor heater, all valued at Sh555,000, belonging to Umash Funeral Home.
He is accused of stealing the items that came to him under his employment on September 2 this year.
Shisia worked as a groundsman at the company’s offices and deserted his job after the alleged theft.
The company’s manager, Alex Mwaura, arrived in the morning and found the items missing from the store and informed his bosses. The items had been stolen, although the doors had not been broken.
He later reviewed the CCTV footage and established that Shisia and his co-worker accessed the store allegedly took away the items, and then loaded them onto a motor vehicle waiting at the gate.
The car that carried the items was parked strategically in a position where the CCTV could not capture its registration particulars.
Mwaura reported the incident to the police on behalf of the company.
Shisia was arrested in Parklands in Nairobi, where he was found working as a security guard after securing employment with a private security firm.
Nothing was recovered.
He allegedly told the police that the items were stolen by his colleague, who sold them to an official of another funeral home in Nairobi at Sh50, 000 although the buyer only sent them Sh30,000 by M-pesa and did not pay the remaining amount.
But he denied the charges when he was arraigned before Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi of the Makadara Law Courts.
Shisia’s colleague, whom they were allegedly captured stealing the items and the buyer they sold to, are still at large.
The suspect was released on a bond of Sh150,000 and an alternative cash bail of Sh80,000.
The case will be mentioned on March 1 before the hearing starts on July 17, 2024.
