Boniface Murage in the dock at the Milimani Law Court, Nairobi on February 18, 2019. RIGHT: A piece of paper with contributions he received from well-wishers to cater for his daughter’s hospital bills. PHOTO CREDIT: NAIROBI NEWS
Boniface Murage Wangechi, the man who was handed a suspended three-month sentence this week after pleading guilty to the charge of attempting to defraud Kenyatta National Hospital the sum of his daughter’s medical bill, tried his best to raise the cash but could not.
The 22-year-old has narrated how he tried to raise funds from friends, but his efforts only yielded KSh2,000 after three days.
It was then, he says, that he put his freedom at stake by attempting to smuggle the baby from the hospital.
“I talked to friends who told me to go to the area chief and get a book stamped so that I can raise money but I only managed to raise Sh2,000 after three days,” Murage told NTV Kenya.
SUSPICIOUS BAG
His wife, Agnes Elewo, said she went along with his plan because she knew he could not raise the money.
“He told me to put the baby inside the bag and I did it because deep down I knew he could never raise the money,” she said.
Murage added that as he put his plans into action, he asked God for guidance because he had no other option.
He says that he was intercepted because the bag looked suspicious after they put holes where the one-month-old lay her head and that he did not cover her and only put a plastic dish on top of her.
JOB OFFER
Murage, who lives in a one roomed house in Ongata Rongai says that he has never committed any crime in his life and that he tries his best to put food on the table, whenever he can.
On Tuesday after his release Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko offered him employment after settling the Sh56,937 hospital bill.
Murage will however be on State watch for the next three months and he is expected not to commit any other offence during that period.