A junior Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) staff, who allegedly assaulted and took an early responder's phone for taking pictures of accident scene he was involved in, is facing charges of violent robbery.

Private Eddy Opondo was charged with robbery with violence contrary to section 296 (2) of the Penal Code where he is accused of robbing politician George Jonathan Maara of his mobile phone worth Sh50,000 along Kiambu Road, Nairobi.

Private Opondo was charged alongside his friends Christian Mbeva, Garvin Otieno, and Alex Kaia where they are accused of robbing Mr Maara at the Ridgeways area of Starehe sub-County on October 20, 2024.

They are accused of using actual violence on the complainant during the incident where they are also accused of robbing him of his car’s ignition key.

Mr Opondo, who is attached to KDFs Gilgil barracks, was separately charged with handling stolen goods contrary to section 322 (1) (2) of the Penal Code where he is accused of dishonestly retaining Mr Maara's phone in the course of stealing it.

The junior military officer is said to have been found with Mr Maara’s phone at the time of his arrest at the scene of the accident on October 21, 2024, which he had retained in the course of allegedly stealing it.

The military staff and friends were driving along the road around midnight when they were involved in an accident near Mr Maara’s gate.

The complainant was informed of the accident by his security guard and went out to rescue the suspects.

He took pictures to share with neighbours and alert them of the accident through socials while seeking more help, but the suspects allegedly attacked, assaulted him, took his phone and deleted the pictures.

Maara sought reported the incident at Muthaiga police station and the suspects were arrested at the scene. Maara’s phone and car keys were recovered during the arrest.

The complainant who had sustained injuries during the incident sought treatment and the injuries were documented by the police and ascertained by medics through P3 form.

The suspects denied the charges before Principal Magistrate Carolyne Mugo of Makadara Law Courts.

They were released on a bond of Sh500,000 each with a surety of a like sum, without an option of a cash bail.

The case will be mentioned on January 28, 2025, before hearing starts on April 29, 2025.