A Kibera Court on Tuesday sentenced a Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology lecturer to three years in jail over fraud charges.
The Kibera Chief Magistrate, Joyce Gandani convicted Jane Queen after the prosecution proved the case against her that she defrauded Sh.420, 000 from Ezekiel Momanyi by lying to him that she was in a position to sell him a vehicle.
Queen had been accused that on June 19, 2012 in Westlands within Nairobi County made Momanyi believe that she could get the vehicle at the stated price.
She had earlier denied the charges and was released on bond.
While testifying in court, Momanyi told court that the accused person approached him and confirmed to him that she had a Prado that was on sale at a price of Sh.500, 000.
He told court that he told Queen that he had less amount of cash and she lowered the price of the vehicle to Sh.350, 000 from the initial price.
“We had agreed that I pay Sh.420, 000 for the Prado registration number KBK 196 Q Toyota Hiace make, I had no enough cash and she lowered the price to Sh.350, 000,” he told court.
He told court that he had trusted the lecturer and he decided to pay the cash but she failed to deliver the vehicle to him.
“I paid her Sh.350, 000 as deposit and we agreed to meet in Kangemi where she was to come with the vehicle but she came without it,” he added and said that since he had no enough cash, he consulted his wife who decided to sell a plot she had for them to purchase the vehicle.
“I talked to my wife about the idea, she quickly accepted and we sold our plot and paid for the vehicle which was never handed to me,” he added.
Momanyi said that the lecturer later called him at Buru Buru, Nairobi over the same but when he arrived at the agreed place, he never found her.
He then decided to report the matter to police, which led to the arrest and the arraignment of the accused person in court.
The investigating officer in the matter also testified and said that he did enough investigation on the matter where he believed that the accused person committed the offence.
In her defense, Queen denied the allegations and said that she never stole the cash from the complainant.
She said that she was a mother of two and a bread winner of her family and asked court for a non-custodian sentence.
Queen also said that since she was a lecturer at the JKUAT University, she pleaded with the court to have mercy on her, adding that she was also the provider of her cousin’s children.
On her ruling, Gandani said that the accused person breached the confidence of trust by stealing from the complainant.
Gandani said that the prosecution proved the case against the accused person and convicted her to 3 years in jail without an alternative fine.
The Judge gave her 14 days to appeal if she wished to do so.
By Alice Gworo
