Man charged with breaking into Parliament, stealing switches worth Sh2.6 million

A man who allegedly "broke" into Parliament four times between April and July 2024 and vandalised electrical switches worth Sh2.6 million is facing charges of breaking into a building.

Kelvin Mang'are is accused of breaking into the Parliament building on April 23 and on May 20, 2024, in contravention of Section 306 (a) of the Penal Code. He is accused of stealing electrical switches worth Sh890,000 on the two diverse dates. The vandalised items belong to a security company.

"On April 23, 2024, at around 18:30 hours at the Parliament of Kenya along Parliament Road in Starehe Sub-county within Nairobi, you broke into the basement area of the main Parliament Building and committed a felony therein, namely stealing two CCTV switches of make CISCO valued at Sh890, 000 – the property of Magal Security Solution company," the charge sheet reads.

He is also charged with breaking into parliament again on June 24, 2024, a day before anti-Finance Bill protesters stormed the Parliament and on July 8, 2024, when he was arrested at the premises.

The suspect is accused of stealing two more switches valued at Sh445,000 each after allegedly breaking into the Parliament's VIP restaurant on the two dates after mysteriously gaining access to one of the country's highly guarded premises.

Mang'are is also charged with handling stolen goods contrary to Section 322 (1) (2) of the Penal Code after he was allegedly arrested with one of the stolen CCTV switches.

He is accused of dishonestly retaining the switch at the time of his arrest on July 8 inside the Parliament building.

The accused person denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Gilbert Shikwe of the Milimani Law Courts and pleaded for lenient bail and bond terms.

He was released on a bond of Sh500,000 or an alternative cash bail of Sh200,000 and a surety of a similar amount. The case will be mentioned on July 24.