Suspect returns to home where he ‘defiled children’

By NGUMBAO KITHI

KENYA: A former employee of Mombasa Children’s Home who is accused of molesting children while on duty returned to the sanctuary after three months on the run and demanded that he be paid his December salary.

The fugitive reportedly walked away casually after the home’s managers advised him to report to police. Unsurprisingly, the man who has an arrest warrant on his head did not heed the managers’ advice to pay the police a visit.

Police are now investigating why the institution did not alert them of the fugitive’s sudden return.

The man is accused of sexually assaulting boys and girls for years.  His  deeds were, however, only exposed in November last year, forcing him to flee the institution. Police suspect he went into hiding in Tanzania.

Police are furious and accuse the managers of aiding the fugitive to escape by not informing them or conducting a citizens arrest.

Yesterday, the Mombasa Urban Deputy Police Officer Tom Okoth said police were shocked by the institution’s handling of the matter and threatened to investigate the managers.

“The management is aware that police are looking for the suspect and should have called the police instead of asking him to report to the police and the Children’s Department. This amounts to abetting crime,” Okoth said.

The County Director of Children Services, Ms Elizabeth Mbuka, said she was also appalled by the development and urged police to apprehend the suspect quickly.

Yesterday, The Standard spoke to the institution’s management and discovered that despite Okoth’s display of anger, police had not questioned anyone at the home following Monday’s incident.

Major Francis Nganda home’s new manager, who reported to the institution on January 2, admitted meeting the fugitive. He said he did not alert police of the fugitive’s presence immediately because of he had been instructed by his head office in Nairobi to inform the suspect to surrender to police instead.

“I could not go against the instructions of my head office.”