This archive report was first published on 21 December 2021.
On December 13, 2021, Emmanuel Bwire, a third-year student at Kenyatta University, began a three-day scheme to obtain drinks and food worth Ksh189,000 from a city hotel in Nairobi by paying with fake Mpesa transaction codes.
According to court papers, Mr. Bwire, 24, ordered the food and drinks in bits, starting with drinks worth Ksh28,100 and a delivery fee of Ksh2,000 on the first day.
He then requested the waiter to furnish him with the bill so that he could pay through Mpesa, but the hotel did not see the message since their Mpesa mobile phone had issues, a police report seen by local dailies reads.
On the second day, the student ordered drinks and food worth Ksh47,000, claiming he paid through Mpesa and gave out the Mpesa transaction code as usual.
He repeated the same trick on the third day, ordering drinks, food, and transport worth Ksh51,600 and giving the Mpesa transaction code to the hotel delivery guy, but this time around, the hotel messenger asked the accused to allow him to take a photo of the Mpesa message, which he did.
However, upon counter-checking the Mpesa transactions, the waiter was shocked to find out that the messages were fake and that there was no money paid to the hotel by the accused person via Mpesa since December 13.
Emmanuel Bwire was eventually arrested on December 16, 2021, after he called the waiter as usual and ordered food and drinks amounting to Ksh61,000, this time accompanied by a police officer to the student's residence.
He pleaded not guilty before Chief Magistrate Wendy Micheni and asked for leniency, claiming that he was held by police for more than 24 hours against his constitutional rights.
He was released on a cash bail of Ksh50,000.
