Mercy Nyoroka, an embattled mother in Meru County, has pleaded with the court to set his son, Johakim Mutwiri, free.
The son was apprehended after he caused drama by hanging on a helicopter ferrying Agriculture Cabinet Secretary (CS) Peter Munya in Meru, on Wednesday, June 22.
Speaking to Nation Africa after appearing in a court at Igembe South on Monday, June 27, the concerned mother revealed that her son was mentally incapacitated.
Mutwiri's ingrained tendency of scaling elevated raised surfaces started in 2017 when he tripped and fell from a tree.
Mutwiri was only 15 years old then when he sustained the injuries that changed his life by affecting his mental health.
"I took him to hospital and he was treated but doctors told me the impact of the fall had affected him mentally. Since then, he has been behaving strangely and suffers from forgetfulness," Nyoroka told Nation Africa.
In 2019, Mutwiri once again incurred critical injuries after falling from a construction site in Nairobi, forcing his mother to rush from Meru to attend to him.
"I travelled to Nairobi and took him to hospital. When he recovered, he came back to Meru and I enrolled him in a mechanics course at Maua Polytechnic," Nyoroka remarked.
She explained that the condition worsened to a point of affecting Mutwiri's marriage life. Nyoroka maintained that her son has failed to execute his fatherly responsibilities due to underlying mental issues.
"He can go out to work the whole day but when he comes back he says he had not gone anywhere," she stated.
"When I remind him that he had spent the day working for a neighbour, who paid him Ksh2,000, he would ask, ‘What do you mean? I don’t have any money on me. This has been going on for some time now," she told Nation Africa.
The worried mother now wants the court to consider Mutwiri's health conditions before issuing a final verdict on his case.
On Thursday, June 23, KCAA condemned the security breach involving the chopper ferrying CS Munya. The authority further issued guidelines to political leaders and companies hiring out choppers.
All parties involved ought to make arrangements to secure their landing and takeoff areas to prevent instances of stowaways at rallies.
"KCAA categorically emphasizes that hanging on to choppers poses an unnecessary danger to persons and property. Members of the public seen to approach the aircraft landing and take-off sites will be held culpable. Further, operators are reminded that," Director General Emile Arao remarked.
"The guideline is to land and take-off at least 3km from the activity venue and to ensure at least 30 meters radius free of people," their statement read in part.
Arao maintained that the authority is collaborating with the National Police Service (NPS) to avert other cases.
