Robbers cooked supper before stealing, court told

Illustration of a robber breaking into a home. [iStockphoto]

A University student narrated to an Eldoret court how three armed robbers stormed their family home at night, demanded food, cooked eggs and ugali for supper, and later stole goods worth Sh2.4 million in Uasin Gishu County.

Edwin Mwangi told the court on Tuesday that the robbers arrived on a motorcycle and stormed their home in the Njambini area on the outskirts of Eldoret City on the night of November 22, 2025.

According to Mwangi, the three men first demanded food before ransacking the house in search of money and valuables.

Stephen Kamau, Patrick Mwangi, Titus Wainaina and Jeremiah Kinyanjui are among suspects facing multiple robbery with violence charges in various courts in Eldoret.

The court was informed that the suspects have a case to answer before the Senior Principal Magistrate’s Court in connection with a robbery with violence case, as well as a similar criminal case before the Principal Magistrate’s Court in Eldoret.

It also emerged that the suspects are facing murder charges before the Eldoret High Court over the killing of a former pharmacist at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital eight months ago.

They are jointly charged with other suspects who are not before the court and are accused of robbing Richard Nyongus Rotich while armed with an AK-47 rifle.

Court documents state that during the alleged robbery, the suspects shot the medic dead before fleeing to an unknown destination.

In a dramatic account before the court, Senior Resident Magistrate Daniel Sitati heard how one of the suspects cooked eggs and ugali for supper after complaining that he was hungry.

Mwangi said the robbers showed no mercy to his elderly and unwell mother, instead demanding that she prepare them something to eat, claiming they had been operating throughout the day without food.

“It was a horrible day for us. I have never experienced such kind of bravery where thieves confidently sit down and plead for food before stealing from you. Imagine one of the robbers told my mother to cook supper for them and when she told them to take githeri in the kitchen, they reprimanded her that they cannot eat such a meal and that they wanted to eat nyama, fish or kuku or anything apart from githeri and cabbage,” Mwangi stated.

He said his mother then directed one of the robbers to take eggs from the refrigerator and cook them with ugali. The suspect agreed, prepared the meal and shared it with his colleagues.

Mwangi said the three robbers enjoyed their supper while he and his mother watched in disbelief from the sitting room.

He told the court that the incident unfolded while he was lying on the floor after being ordered to remain still.

The student also said the robbers engaged them in discussions about current politics and assured them that they did not intend to harm them.

“It was a day that will never go out of my mind. The robbers were so friendly to me and my mother after enjoying their supper, which was prepared by one of them. They even engaged us in a debate over the current politics taking place in the country,” he said.

“At that point, the man holding a gun was standing alert outside the house, monitoring any movement and ensuring the operation went well.”

Mwangi told Magistrate Sitati that on the fateful night, he was driving his father's vehicle home when he was accosted by the robbers at the gate as he attempted to enter the compound.

“When I arrived at the gate, the robbers ordered me to alight from the vehicle immediately and forced me to lead them to my parents’ house at gunpoint. I responded to their order promptly and that’s how my life was saved. I didn’t react anymore,” Mwangi said.

He said that after entering the house, the robbers terrorised his mother, who was watching television, as they demanded money.

The woman pleaded with them not to harm them, but the robbers allegedly ignored her pleas.

“Thanks to God, my life is intact after passing through frustration. What I can remember is that I was lying on the ground and later heard them asking for cash from my sick mother while threatening her with dire consequences if she refused to heed their demands,” Mwangi told the court.

He said he remained lying face down on the sitting-room floor without moving as one of the robbers, armed with a panga, guarded them while another entered the bedroom in search of money and valuables.

Mwangi further testified that his mother, Margaret Charagu, was forced to surrender her mobile phone and disclose her PIN to one of the robbers. The suspects allegedly used the phone to transfer Sh8,000 to an accomplice’s number.

The student recalled that when the robbers initially entered the house, one of them, armed with an AK-47 rifle, guarded the door, while another, armed with a panga, kept watch over him and his mother in the sitting room.

The third suspect allegedly searched the bedrooms for money and other valuables.

Mwangi was giving evidence-in-chief in a case in which three suspected robbers and an alleged accomplice are charged with robbery with violence under Section 296(2) of the Penal Code.

The charges state that on the night of November 21 and 22, 2025, at the Njambini area on the outskirts of Eldoret City in Uasin Gishu County, the suspects, together with others not before the court, robbed Edward Mwangi of his motor vehicle and assorted agrochemicals valued at Sh2.4 million.

According to the court documents, the suspects were armed with dangerous weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and a panga.

The hearing will continue on September 25, 2026.