A woman is in trouble with the authorities for reportedly failing to report that her boyfriend, who was shot dead by police at an apartment in Nairobi, was an armed robber.
Ann Njenga, 25, who is suspected to have been housing Samuel Karui alias Sammy Steppa at her house in Githurai estate is now facing charges of consorting with a person whom she knew was unlawfully in possession of a firearm contrary to section 89 (2) of the Penal Code.
The prosecution is now treating her as an associate of the deceased robbery suspect who is accused of being behind a spate of robberies and murders in Kasarani Sub County.
Karui was shot dead during a shootout with undercover police officers outside the Ameya Gate Apartments in Githurai 44 on October 29, 2023. He was reportedly waylaid by authorities at Njenga’s house after which a shootout ensued.
The deceased suspect was found with a revolver gun which he is said to have been using in his alleged criminal activities before he was killed.
The police and the Office of Public Prosecution (ODPP) say Ms Njenga knew that Karui had engaged in a series of violent robberies and murders that he is accused of committing jointly with others at large.
The officers who killed Karui had received intelligence that he was hiding in Ms Njenga’s house and proceeded to the house, however, one of the officers met Ms Njenga on the stairs leaving the house and asked her about Karui’s whereabouts and she confirmed he was sleeping in her house.
The officer told her to keep quiet but she raised an alarm to alert Karui that police had come for her prompting the officer to release Ms Njenga and flee while calling for reinforcement from colleagues who had taken strategic positions outside the house.
Karui came out of the apartment and allegedly opened fire at the officers who were waiting for him and he was shot dead.
No police officer was injured but several members of the public at a nearby illegal liquor den were hit by stray bullets and were rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The officers returned to the building and arrested Ms Njenga.
Police recovered a bullet head, a spent cartridge, and two mobile phones among other items suspected to belong to Karui from Ms Njenga’s house.
The suspect denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Caroline Mugo of the Makadara Law Courts and pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms through lawyer Norah Kaggia.
Ms Kaggia told the court that Ms Njenga is a mother of a child below two years adding that she has a fixed abode in Githurai hence not a flight risk.
The suspect was released on a bond of Sh100,000 and an alternative cash bail of Sh70,000.
The case will be mentioned on January 29, 2024 before the hearing starts on April 29, 2024.
Earlier this month, a 19-year-old woman was charged with the same offence after she was found inside her boyfriend’s house after the lover engaged detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a shoot-out where he injured four of them before he was shot dead on October 8, 2023.
Ivy Muthoni was accused of being in association with Dancun Ndinya who was wanted for violent robberies in Nairobi, Kanjiando, and Embu counties before he was killed.
One of the officers injured by Ndinya succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment at the Nairobi West Hospital. She denied the charges and is in custody awaiting a ruling on bail and bond application.
