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Raila Joins Kenyans in Sympathising With Naivas Shoplifter Fined Sh100K For Stealing Sh3100 Foodstuff

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The Kenyan online community on Twitter has decried that there is no justice for the poor after a shoplifter was fined Sh100,000 for stealing goods worth Sh3,165.

Alvin Linus Chivondo, 21, will alternatively have to serve a one-year jail sentence after he pleaded guilty before a Nairobi Court.

Linus posed as a customer at the Naivas Supermarket along Moi Avenue, where he tried to steal 5kgs of rice, 5 litres of cooking oil, 2kgs of sugar and other items valued at Sh3,165.

He was however intercepted while attempting to exit the supermarket without paying.

Appearing before Milimani Chief Magistrate Wendy Kagendo, Linus admitted to two counts of stealing and handling stolen goods.

In the first count, the court heard that on April 10, 2022, at Naivas Supermarket located at Development House, Moi avenue in Nairobi he stole five kilogrammes of Daawat long grain rice, 500 grams of American gourmet honey and 500 grams of Fahari ya Kenya tea leaves.

The charge sheet added that he also stole five litres of Fresh Fry cooking oil and two kilogrammes of Kabras Sugar being the property of Naivas Kenya limited.

It also emerged that Linus Chivondo is a repeat shoplifter having been caught stealing at the same supermarket on April 3, 2022.

He was however pardoned by the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Central Police Station. Linus said a good samaritan whom he had met earlier at the supermarket bailed him out by paying the cost.

Defending himself over the second theft, Linus said hunger drove him to steal as he had lost his job. He also said he has a family and has a jobless single father depending on him.

The accused asked the court to forgive him and promised not to repeat the offence.

But in her ruling, magistrate Kagendo found that the accused was not honest with his words and was a perpetual thief.

Kagendo also mentioned that last week she released four people who had been arrested for shoplifting at Naivas Moi Avenue.

“This is a clear indication that the supermarket is prone to theft by people who are reaping from where they have not sown,” she ruled.

Further, the magistrate said the sentence she handed Chivondo would deter other thieves from the vice.

The sentence elicited mixed reactions from Kenyans on Twitter, the majority of whom felt it was a bit severe. They included ODM leader Raila Odinga who called for Linus to be released unconditionally.

“Let Alvin Linus Chivondo be released unconditionally!. Criminals are now getting a reprieve to campaign freely, while petty offenders are being jailed. Let the courts get their priorities right, for once, you can’t jail a man for trying to feed his family,” read a tweet from the official Raila Odinga account.

Other Kenyans rightfully observed that the Kenyan judicial system is heavily skewed in favour of the rich and against the poor.

Some of the sympathizers also appeared to have been incensed at the recent decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji to give clemency to politicians facing graft cases during the political season.

Here are some of those reactions;



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