It is that time of the year when merry-go-round Chama treasurers count their total savings and share the dividends among members.
One Chama in Mombasa, though, is counting heavy losses after 11 months of savings. This is after the treasurer disappeared with all the money saved.
On December 2nd, members of Simba Miritini Apparels were expected to receive their dividends. However, on that day, the treasurer could not be traced anywhere.
The treasure who was identified as Florence Okinyo had mysteriously gone missing with Sh. 163,000 of the members’ monies and she was nowhere to be seen or heard. Ms. Okinyo resorted to being silent and snubbing members of her group, citing illness.
“She neither reported to work nor picked calls from her colleagues,” state counsel Yassir Yussuf told the court after Okinyo was arraigned with theft charges.
As treasurer, Ms. Okinyo’s duties involved handling the cash sent by members and monitoring the fixed and M-Pesa accounts where the savings were channeled.
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Throughout the year, Florence Okinyo allegedly presented fake M-Shwari and fixed account numbers.
In November, Ms. Okinyo allegedly transferred the money from the real Chama account to her personal mobile money account, and just like that, she vanished.
A search by the puzzled Simba Miritini Apparels members was initiated and they caught up with her after a while and asked her to produce the money.
“The accused told the members that she had no money. She said that all of the money had been stolen. She had wrapped it in a polythene paper and kept it in a small bag,” the court was told.
It was thereafter that the infuriated group members escorted her to Jomvu police station for interrogation and she failed to account for the money.
To avoid getting sentenced to a jail term by the magistrate, Ms. Okinyo took the easy and wise route, pleading guilty to the offenses charged against her. She promised to repay the money to the Chama members in Sh. 10,000 monthly instalments.
“The facts are true. I plead with this court to allow me to return to work so that I can repay the money. I am willing to repay it if I’m given a non-custodial sentence,” she pleaded.
The magistrate allowed the suspect to negotiate with her colleagues within six days on how she will repay the money before she is sentenced.
