New twist in Mombasa Uber driver case over indecent act charge

New twist in Mombasa Uber driver case over indecent act charge

Fredrick Mungai Njenga, the Mombasa Uber driver who was released over a faulty charge sheet, has now been indicted for committing an indecent act.

A different magistrate allowed the Prosecution to present the same charges that had been thrown out last week.

“Committing an indecent act with a child contrary to Section 11 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act No. 3 of 2006,” the new charge sheet reads.

An Indecent Act is defined in the Sexual Offences Act, 2006 as “any unlawful intentional act which causes any contact between the genital organs of a person, his or her breasts and buttocks with that of another person.”

It is further defined as “exposure or display of any pornographic material to any person against his or her will, but does not include an act which causes penetration.”

On Tuesday, the suspect was arraigned at the Shanzu Law Courts and pleaded not guilty; he was released on Ksh. 50,000 cash bail.

Senior Resident Magistrate Patrick Odhiambo then directed that the case be heard on August 13.

According to the new charge sheet, Njenga is accused that on July 15, 2019 at Bombolulu area in Nyali, he intentionally and unlawfully caused his genitals to be sucked by a boy aged 13 years.

The same charge sheet indicates a different date of arrest: July 19, 2018.

When he appeared in court last week, the date of arrest on his charge sheet was July 16.

Earlier, the Prosecution had pleaded with the court not to release the accused arguing that his life could be in danger.

According to them, there is a high risk of the public attacking him after they got wind of what he is accused of.

However, his lawyer Jared Magolo rubbished their assertion saying his client has a Constitutional right to be released on bail.

Last week, Njenga was arraigned at the same Shanzu Law Courts but was released on bail after the magistrate said the charge sheet was faulty.

The Prosecution had presented a charge of indecent act but Senior Resident Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda said: “According to the law it is not “indecent act” since mouth is not a genital organ. Get a proper charge.”

Uber has since responded to a story that ran on Citizen Digital regarding the charge that Njenga is facing.

A spokesperson termed the incident as “regrettable and shocking” adding that it “has no place on the Uber app.”

“This would be a clear violation of our community guidelines. We take any incident of this nature very seriously and in cases like this, we immediately remove the driver’s access from the app,” read the statement.

“We are in contact with law enforcement to assist their investigation in any way we can,” the statement adds.

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