The bill was paid hours before Boniface Murage was due to be sentenced after he admitted the offence before Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi/CFM NEWS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 19 – A well-wisher has settled the Sh56,000 bill for a 22-year-old man accused of trying to smuggle his new-born baby from the Kenyatta National Hospital.
The bill was paid hours before Boniface Murage was due to be sentenced after he admitted the offence before Senior Resident Magistrate Muthoni Nzibe at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
Numerous calls were made to our newsroom by people wishing to help Murage after his story was posted on the Capital FM website on Monday.
READ: Father admits trying to smuggle baby from KNH to dodge bill
Murage told the court that he took the decision to smuggle out his baby in a paper bag on Saturday to avoid paying the Sh56,000 bill because it was too high for the family.
Murage is said to have declined to be subjected to routine security checks at the hospital exit, prompting the guards to confiscate the paper bag where the baby was found.
Among the well-wishers included Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko who visited Murage’s wife Agnes at KNH and helped in her release from the hospital together with the child.
Sonko said he is following up on Murage’s issue before court and offer any assistance that he may require.
“He is only 22yrs and jobless but the love for his daughter forced him to mess the law just like any father. He pleaded guilty and the court is set to sentence him tomorrow. The man never involved himself in crime or unlawful deals,” Sonko said on his Facebook page.
Boniface Murage’s wife, Agnes shopping at a supermarket with the assistance of Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko’s team/COURTESY
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino also offered to help the family and even suggested that Murage should change the guilty plea he had entered on Monday when he was arraigned.
It’s not clear what fate Murage will face after the bill was cleared but a lawyer has volunteered to represent him.
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