A Nairobi court Wednesday ordered the detention of a woman accused of conspiring to steal 11 containers of bitumen worth more than Sh19 million belonging to China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
Senior principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo on Wednesday directed that Joy Naomi Jelimo be held at Capitol Hill Police Station for one day to allow the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to complete investigations.
The DCI Operations Support Unit, through Corporal Leonard Siele, told the court that Jelimo was arrested in Eldoret over the alleged theft of a consignment shipped from Dubai by Richmond Mercantile Ltd and delivered through the Nairobi Inland Container Depot (ICD).
According to the investigators, while 39 containers of bitumen were delivered to CRBC’s site along the Southern Bypass, 11 containers containing 1,210 drums of the material never arrived.
The consignment, valued at USD 147,551.14 (about Sh19 million), had already attracted taxes of about Sh6.2 million.
The missing containers were allegedly picked from ICD by unknown transporters and later returned empty to the shipping line.
“Upon the complainant inquiring from David the whereabouts of the 11 missing containers on the 4th day of July, 2025, he informed him that the same had also been returned to the shipping line on time,” read the court documents.
Police allege Jelimo conspired with other suspects at large to divert the cargo.
Upon her arrest, detectives recovered a mobile phone suspected to have been used in communication with accomplices, as well as several delivery notes.
The court heard that investigators are still conducting forensic analysis of the phone, verifying the delivery notes, recording additional witness statements, and tracing other suspects.
Corporal Siele allege that more witnesses are yet to record statements and that other suspects remain at large.
Meanwhile, an elderly man accused of defrauding another man of Sh2.5 million in a fake housing deal was released on bail.
Zablon Rashid Minyonga, 66, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo, where he was charged with obtaining money by false pretences.
The court was told that between March 2019 and September 2022, he allegedly obtained the money from David Mogunde Okachi after falsely claiming he would sell him two houses in Soweto East Zone ‘A’, Nairobi.
Through his lawyer, Minyonga pleaded with the court to be admitted to reasonable cash bail, saying he has been fully cooperating with investigators and is not a flight risk.
The defence said that the retired civil servant has a fixed home in Nairobi and has no intention of absconding.
The lawyer further told the court that Minyonga, who retired early on medical grounds, is battling prostate cancer, high blood pressure, and chronic back problems.
He also argued that the matter before court arose from a transaction that failed due to breach of contract.
The defence at the same time applied for the prosecution to supply all documentary evidence intended to be relied upon during trial, including witness statements and exhibits.
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