A man was fined Sh5,000 or stay in jail for one month on Wednesday by a Nakuru court for stealing potatoes from his employer’s garden.
Chief Magistrate Dorreen Mulekyo fined Geoffrey Wafula, after he pleaded guilty to harvesting and stealing two buckets of potatoes from his employer's garden.
He was accused of uprooting and stealing the potatoes belonging to Ann Ngairu on January 10, 2016 at Kaptembwa estate, Nakuru County.
The prosecution said some members of the public who saw Wafula harvesting potatoes from the garden, raised the alarm and started chasing after him.
Police arrested him later and took him to Kaptembwa police station.
While pleading guilty to the charge, the accused asked the court to forgive him, promising not to repeat his mistake.
“I was her worker and she had not paid me since November. I have a family to take care of so I decided to go to her garden and harvest some potatoes that I could sell, and also use some as food for my family,” he said.
State Prosecutor Sandra Kosgei urged the court to treat Wafula as a first offender since the prosecution had no previous records of his wrongdoing.