Two members of the Panga Boys gang have been sentenced to five years in prison each for breaking into Mtangawanda Primary School in Lamu East, Lamu County, and stealing construction materials worth Sh50,000.
Jaffar Mohamed, alias Fai, and Salim Abdallah, alias Kijana, were convicted after a court found that prosecution evidence linked them to the theft committed in December 2025.
In a statement on October 8 2026, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said Principal Magistrate Peter Wasike found the evidence presented by the prosecution consistent and credible, proving the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
"Principal Prosecution Counsel Derrick Wawire presented six witnesses whose evidence Principal Magistrate Peter Wasike found consistent and credible, proving the charges beyond reasonable doubt."
The court heard that the two men broke into a classroom being used as a store at about 2 am on December 26, 2025, and stole materials intended for a classroom construction project funded by the Safaricom Foundation.
The stolen items included 11 containers of Super Gloss paint, a grinder, scrapers, paintbrushes, rollers, 10 rolls of electrical installation tape, and sandpaper.
The school watchman discovered the theft, prompting project foreman Dennis Samson Bakari to report the incident at Siyu Police Post.
On December 28, the suspects allegedly tried to sell the grinder to Muhsin Nadhir in Pate village, claiming they took it because they had not been paid for the work.
Nadhir declined the offer and reported the matter to the area chief.
"On 28th December, court heard that the two attempted to sell the grinder to Muhsin Nadhir in Pate village, claiming they had taken it because they had not been paid for work. Mr Nadhir declined the offer and reported the matter to the area chief," the ODPP stated.
The following day, police officers in Faza intercepted the two men as they boarded a matatu to Kizingitini. Officers recovered four litres of paint, brushes, rollers and electrical tape.
After their arrest, the suspects led police to Mbui bushes, where additional stolen materials concealed in sacks were recovered. The grinder was subsequently recovered in Pate.
The two denied the charges, claiming they had been arrested while travelling to visit an aunt and had been framed by police.
However, the court dismissed their defence as a mere denial, citing their possession of recently stolen property and their role in leading officers to other recovered items.
Probation reports presented before sentencing described the men as violent youths who had allegedly terrorised residents of Lamu East and Pate. The reports also linked them to several housebreaking incidents.
Although the two pleaded for leniency, arguing that they were breadwinners, the court found them unsuitable for non-custodial sentences, citing concerns about the danger they posed to the community.
Wasike sentenced each man to five years in prison, with the terms running from their respective dates of arrest. They were granted 14 days to appeal against their conviction and sentence.
The case comes amid an ongoing national challenge of break-ins and theft. According to the National Police Service's 2024 annual report, reported break-ins declined from 6,886 cases in 2023 to 5,734 in 2024, a reduction of approximately 17%.
The report also recorded 17,560 stealing cases in 2024, down from 18,534 in 2023, a decrease of about five per cent. These national figures cover reported offences across Kenya and do not establish the prevalence of school-related theft specifically.
In the syndicate, gang members targeted materials intended for a classroom construction project funded by the Safaricom Foundation.