This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
On a Wednesday, a 10-year-old girl was seen crying in the corridors of the Isiolo Law Courts. When asked what was wrong, she explained that she and her family had been waiting for her father's release, but he was instead taken to a nearby prison.
The girl had walked to the court with her elder brother, who was carrying their two-year-old sibling, in the hopes that their father would be freed. However, after the hearing, the father was escorted to a prison located about half a kilometre away from the law courts.
Distraught and with no one to turn to, the family broke into tears and stood outside the courtroom. It was then that a court staff member decided to rally his colleagues to help the accused, who had only managed to raise Ksh.9,000 for bail.
Within an hour, 30 workers, including police officers, a probation officer, and a prosecutor, had raised a total of Ksh.11,500. John Mugaa, the father of three from Kulamawe in Isiolo town, was then released to his children.
He had been arrested during a random inspection of food hawkers by Isiolo County public health officials for allegedly selling food in unhygienic conditions. After his release, Mugaa expressed gratitude to the court officers for their unexpected gesture.
