A Kenyan father has been sentenced to three months in prison or a fine of 20,000 shillings ($185; £131) for allowing his seven-year-old son to drive his vehicle on a public road.
Ayub Kinyanjui Muigai was arrested on Monday after a video of the boy driving near a shopping centre in Muranga County, north of the capital, Nairobi, was widely shared online over the weekend.
In court in Muranga County’s Kandara town on Tuesday he pleaded guilty to the charge of allowing an unlicensed person to knowingly drive a vehicle.
Muigai was arrested on Monday by officers from Kirwara Police Station in Murang’a County alongside sleuths from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) after the clip capturing his son driving the Toyota Prado went viral.
The boy, in the video, is approached and greeted by a man who asks him if he is really the driver of the car, as he is be seen in the driver’s seat, to which he responds with “Yes.”
The man then proceeds to tell him to prove it and the boy drives the vehicle a few metres ahead at Delview Park area in Thika.
The video sparked mixed reactions on social media with a section of online users calling for action against the father for endangering the son’s life and that of other road users.
