A Sierra Leone national has been fined Ksh50,000 or serve one month imprisonment in default after pleading guilty to being in Kenya illegally.

In his verdict, Eldoret Senior Resident Magistrate Daniel Sitati also ordered that the alien, Ms Hawa Sam be repatriated to her country of origin immediately after she pays the fine or conclude her jail term.

She was charged that on or before April 16, 2026 at Teleview area in Eldoret City, Uasin Gishu County, being a Sierra Leone national, she was found illegally present in the country without a permit to warrant her stay in Kenya contrary to the laws.

In her defence, Sam tickled the court when she said she fell in love with a man from western Kenya during her holiday in the country, which made her to forget to renew her tourist visa.

“I was so impressed with the environment in the country and I ended up falling in a romantic relationship with a Kenyan man to the point that I forgot my documents had expired,” Hawa told a packed court that burst into laughter.

She consequently pleaded with the presiding magistrate to pardon her, promising not to repeat the mistake when she visits the country again.

The court was further left in stitches when Ms Sam called out the name of her Kenyan boyfriend and presented him to the court as her evidence that indeed “they were an item.”

“Your honour, indeed I can confirm that Hawa Sam is my girlfriend as she had stated earlier in her defence,” said the middle-aged man who did not disclose his name.

The magistrate warned the Sierra Leone national against touring the country without valid documents lest she be arrested and prosecuted again.

In the same court a 29 year old businesswoman was charged with obtaining money by false pretence in a chicken feed sale.

Joan Jepchirchir is said to have obtained Ksh55,000 from one Ian Cheruiyot purporting that she was in a position to supply him with chicken feed, a fact she knew was false.

The accused who was unrepresented allegedly committed the said offence on February 28, 2026, at Kapsoya in Uasin Gishu County. She pleaded not guilty to the charge when she appeared before SRM Sitati and was granted a bond of Ksh50,000 with two sureties or  a cash bail of Ksh20,000.

The case is set for mention on April 27, 2026.

• Tell Media / KNA report / By Ekuwam Sylvester