Quickmart Buruburu manager faces assault charges over ATM milk theft saga

A Quickmart Supermarkets Buruburu branch deputy manager has been charged with assault following an incident in which he allegedly assaulted and detained two customers, including a minor, after falsely accusing them of shoplifting.

Simon Kagwe is accused of unlawfully assaulting Beatrice Bengai and her brother, a minor, and causing them actual bodily harms on August 3, inside the supermarket after claiming they had stolen 57 liters of milk at the outlet.

He denied the charges before Makadara Chief Magistrate Bearice Kimemia and was released on a bond of Sh100, 000 and an alternative cash bail of Sh80, 000.

The case will be mentioned on August 27 for a pretrial hearing before trial kicks off.

The complainants had been sent to the supermarket to buy two litres of milk and paid Sh150 at one of the cash centres inside the supermarket then proceeded to the milk ATM.

However, they found no one and after waiting for some time, they told the police during investigations that they served themselves assuming it was a self-service centre.

Shortly after, an attendant came and confirmed they had already made payment for the milk but another attendant came before they left and invited Kagwe to the ATM.

Kagwe accused the two of stealing 57 litres of milk despite the fact that their container could not carry such a quantity.

Their explanation that they had paid and did not know that they should have waited to be served is said to have landed on deaf ears.

He asked them for their parent’s contact and called their father summoning him to the retailer to pay for 57 litres of milk they had allegedly stolen.

The father, who arrived almost immediately, however, found his children having been assaulted and ordered to kneel down and he left to report the matter to the police.

The children were later escorted to Buruburu police station where it was established that they had not stolen anything after interrogations.

Kangwe apologised to the children at the police station.

Police officers established that Bengai and her brother were not in the wrong because there was no one at the ATM to serve them the milk after making payment and there was no notice at the milk ATM notifying customers not to serve themselves after making payment.

There was also no prove of intended theft as the complainants had paid and served themselves the quantity of milk they had paid for and Kagwe was shown receipts by the attendants and the complainants too.

The supermarket issued a public apology over the incident, which sparked a social media storm, and condemned Kagwe for his actions.