Mathe Wa Ngara Collapses In Court, Magistrate Forced To Postpone Hearing

• A Nairobi magistrate was compelled to reschedule the bail hearing for Nancy Kigunzu, a suspected drug peddler nicknamed "Mathe Wa Ngara"
• Nancy Kigunzu arrived at the JKIA courts on August 28 to face charges related to drug peddling, after nearly a week in police custody
• During the court session, emotions overwhelmed Kigunzu, as captured in a viral video shared on Twitter

A Nairobi magistrate was forced to postpone the bail hearing of a suspected city drug peddler popularly known as Mathe Wa Ngara after she collapsed in court.

After being held in custody for a week, Nancy Kigunzu appeared at the JKIA courts on Monday, August 28, for her bail hearing.

However, a video shared by Citizen TV showed Kigunzu was overwhelmed by emotions during the court proceedings, and she collapsed, forcing the magistrate to postpone the hearing.

In the clip, she was seen lying down on the courtroom floor as she wailed loudly. She was rushed to the hospital after the bail hearing was pushed to Wednesday, August 30.

Earlier, through her lawyer, the suspect had sought to know what happened to the money they confiscated from her house a fortnight ago during a raid.

Mathe Wa Ngara seeks to stop her arrest

Before she was arrested on Monday, August 21, Mathe Wa Ngara moved to court to block her impending arrest.

In a case filed in court by her advocate, Shanice Maingi, Kigunzu described herself as a law-abiding Kenyan with a legitimate source of income and asked for protection from arrest.

The businesswoman said she has never committed any crime in Kenya and has never been summoned by police officers or charged with any crime.

Kigunzu claimed her impending arrest over the KSh 13.4 million and illegal substances confiscated by police was meant to block her from running her legitimate business.

"The applicant is of the firm belief that the timing of the arrest is designed to intimidate and ensure that she does not continue running her business here in Kenya," read court papers.

Fake Mathe Wa Ngara goes missing

Before Kigunzu's arrest on August 21, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had arrested the wrong Mathe Wa Ngara, a woman identified as Teresiah Wanjiru.

She was under police custody for days until August 22 when she allegedly disappeared from the police cell.

The court failed to rule on her bail application after she could not be traced.

Members of her family who had taken her food in detention also claimed they did not find her.