As he sat on a bench staring at the magistrate and turning occasionally to look at other suspects, Bonny Onyala appeared to enjoy the environment, unusual for a suspect.
But behind his look, the young man was burdened with tribulations he had experienced since his arrest on June 6.
Onyala was charged with theft and granted Sh30,000 bail. He could not raise the amount and has been at Industrial Area remand since.
On Wednesday, the man poured out his heart to Kibera senior principal magistrate Barbara Ojoo in a quest for lower bond.
“I have suffered enough at Industrial Area and I'm afraid to go back there,” he told the magistrate.
“Every life is meaningful. You are a black beauty and your prosecutor is light-skinned. But your life matters just like any other.”
To emphasize his point, Onyala sought confirmation of the magistrate's beauty from the court attendants.
“Am I lying? The magistrate and the prosecutor are beautiful. Does any of you object?
If anyone does please raise your hand,” he said, sending the court into laughter as Ojoo stamped her authority.
He told the court how he has suffered in custody since his arrest, with regular outbreaks of communicable diseases and recurrent infections.
“Look at my nails,” he showed the magistrate his long nails. “The people in remand offer me a nail cutter but I cannot take because I might infect them with Hepatitis B”.
“I don’t want to infect them nor do I want to die. Kindly assist me to get out today, not tomorrow. I have Sh10,000 with me as bail,” he added.
Onyala said he has been seeing blood on his stool since his arrest "and the condition only seems to be getting worse".
Last week, he said, there was a cholera outbreak at Industrial Area remand prisons which will soon claim lives. "Release me before it's too late."
“I don’t want to die, not in remand,” he added.
The court had rejected his contact persons as they never achieved the credibility required, he told the court.
Onyala is accused that on June 6 together with others not before the court he stole a laptop from BitPesa offices located at Fuji Plaza in Westlands, Nairobi county.
He was taken to Kilimani police station before he was arraigned.
He denied the charges and he was given Sh100,000 bond or an alternative Sh30,000 bail with a credible contact person.
His request was, however, denied as the magistrate affirmed that the bail terms she had issued earlier were sufficient according to the law.
Ojoo ordered the accused be taken to Mbagathi Hospital and his health frequently monitored by the prison welfare offices.
She directed the matter to be heard on September 6.
Akello Odenyo and Clause Masika/The Star
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