KENYATTA UNIVERSITY STUDENT WHO OWNS POLICE UNIFORM

A university student has been charged with being in possession of a police uniform.

Lambert Bartebess, a mechanical engineering student at Jomo Kenyatta University for Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), was charged at Milimani Law Courts on Wednesday for being in possession of government property.

Besides being caught wearing police uniform, the student was also charged with being in possession of an iPhone 6 suspected to have been stolen or irregularly acquired.

Bartebess, who was charged before Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi, sought to be freed on reasonable bond terms, while disclosing that he is a college student and has no income.

When asked by the court whether he had any identification to prove that he was a college student, he stated that he had left his identification card at home.

“How do you expect this court to believe that you are a university student when you have no identification card on you?” Mr Andayi wondered.

In response, Bartebess answered: “Give me time to rush home and get the identification card.”

Plea rejected

However, the magistrate rejected his plea and asked him what he was doing at River Road, Nairobi at 6.30am in police uniform instead of being in school, to which he muttered something in response.

“How do you expect this court to assist you when you are throwing piecemeal statements? You don’t have a student identification card, you are economical with the truth and you are not sure of yourself. These are [marks] of a criminal.”

Bartebess is facing two counts of being in possession of suspected stolen property and wearing police uniform when he is not a member of the service.

In the first count, Bartebess is charged with wearing police uniform on Harry Thuku Road, Nairobi when he is not a member of the Kenya Defence Forces. He allegedly committed the offence on October 5, 2021.

In the second count, he is charged with being in possession of suspected stolen property. The student was remanded in custody as he makes arrangements to get his college ID card and reach out to his family to secure his freedom.

By Nation Africa