This archive report was first published on 12 May 2020.
On May 11, 2020, a dramatic scene unfolded in Eastleigh, Nairobi, when a cobbler allegedly attempted to rob a woman in broad daylight while armed with a knife.
However, while appearing before the Makadara Law Courts on Monday, Ali Noor Mollu denied the charges, claiming his accuser, Fatuma Abdilahi, had raised a false alarm against him following a dispute over business space.
Mollu alleged that Abdilahi wanted him out of the place where she operated as a cobbler and had previously reported him to elders in the area.
He claimed that this was not the first time Abdilahi had made false reports against him, and that he had been charged with theft at the Makadara Law Courts on previous occasions but had never been convicted.
According to police constable Moses Mwaniki of Eastleigh Airbase Police Post, a police officer on undercover duties rescued Mollu from a lynch mob and arrested him.
Mollu had sustained bodily injuries before the undercover police officer rescued him and was taken to hospital, but he claimed he was not treated.
"I have never stolen anything from anyone. I work as a cobbler to fend for my family and I was doing exactly that when this woman came to my business and made the claims. Am I so foolish to attempt robbing someone publicly at 2pm?" Mollu asked Senior Resident Magistrate Lewis Gatheru of Makadara Law Courts.
