A 36-year-old man who pretended to be crippled and solicited money from passers-by along a busy pavement in Thika Town was jailed for a year by a Thika Court.
Allan Karanja appeared before Thika Resident Magistrate Emma Bartoo and pleaded guiltty to the charge of road obstruction.
The court heard that on May 11, 2015, at about 10:50am along Kenyatta Highway in Thika Sub County, Karanja willfully obstructed the free passage by borrowing money from pedestrians using a child who had been placed along the passage.
The accused person who pretended to be disabled by bandaging himself all over and applying tomato sauce on the bandages to look wounded used a friend’s three-year-old child to solicit money from passers-by.
He was arrested by county askaris after members of the public tipped them of on the man’s deceitful practice.
In her verdict, Justice Bartoo said pretence to be disabled is a serious offence as it is like stealing from people and using a child to solicit for money is an unhealthy and child abuse.
Karanja was given the option of paying a Sh40,000 fine to avoid the jail term.