A teenager accused of stealing two phones admitted he made up a story about his mother being killed in a car accident last year.
According to Hope Kinyua, Fund Manager at Meru County MP Hon. Bishop Kawira Mwangaza’s office, the teenager approached the offices asking for assistance in getting back to school, claiming to have walked all the way from Igembe to Meru Town.
“He claimed that before arriving in Meru Town, he stopped at Muthara and spent the night. He claimed that when he arrived in Meru Town, he slept on the streets. When he approached our offices, he requested bursary forms and said that he was an orphan,” Kinyua said.
Kinyua said that when he asked the teenager why he didn’t go to the MCA’s office, he said it was because it was in Isiolo county.
“I suggested that he go to the Mps office and see if he could benefit from them as well. While preparing a bursary form with the assistance of one of our officers, I had the opportunity to speak with the principal of Itumu Day Secondary School, who informed me that the student had been suspended due to indiscipline,” Kinyua said.
According to Kinyua, he was informed that the teenager was associated with a group of students involved in bhang peddling and that the principal did not want him to influence other students.
Kinyua said he was given the phone number of the parent, who confirmed her son’s bad behavior.
According to the teenager’s mother, she paid his school fees for the previous term at Itumi Boys High School, but her son was expelled for indiscipline.
“He attended Igembe Boys School before being expelled after being linked to a group of students associated with bhang peddling. When he said he wanted to go back to school, I took him to Itumi day school and paid all of his tuition. He began associating with a group of bhang peddlers in the community again, and when I tried to warn him, he became obstinate,” she said.
According to the teen’s mother, her son would arrive home at midnight with a group of young men and would sometimes sleep at their houses where bhang was sold.
“Finally, before fleeing, he stole two phones, and when I asked him why, he said he wanted to use the money to pay the balance of a pending tuition fee. The incident was reported to the Chief, and one of the phones belonged to a disabled person. I had a second marriage with the child, and his stepfather has been caring for him since he was five years old,” she said.
She stated that when her son returns home, the chief will arrest and detain him. She begged his son to reveal the location of the stolen phones.
The teen claimed that he lied about his mother’s death because she treated him as if he were not her son.
He claimed that a suspect named Mwiti had stolen the two phones and that they had agreed that because he was leaving and would never return, the suspect would give him one of the stolen phones.
