A food vendor in Kikuyu Sub-County was on Tuesday arraigned in a Kikuyu Court for allegedly selling food without a permit and defying the public health’s order against hawking food.
The accused, Diana Njoki, appeared before Chief Magistrate James Ogweno and pleaded guilty for the offence. In her mitigation, Njoki pleaded that she was a single mother of five and they all depended on her.
She added that she lost her husband who was the sole breadwinner and she had to embark on hawking food to feed her children.
“I humbly ask the court to consider my situation before issuing a judgement,” said Njoki.
The prosecution had told the court that on the May 30, 2015, the accused was arrested by public health officers in Kikuyu Town selling the food to residents in defiance of a caveat against hawking food to curb cholera outbreak.
Njoki was allegedly carrying the food in a bucket and selling it secretively. The accused had allegedly cooked the food in her house. According to the public health officers, the accused had not qualified to acquire a public health permit and neither did she have it.
Justice Ogweno sentenced her to six months imprisonment or pay a fine of Sh10,000.
In May, the Kikuyu Public health office gave an order prohibiting the sale of food in unregistered premises and by unauthorised people.