For petty offenders in Kenya, justice has been swift

Allan Wadi who was convicted of insulting President Uhuru Kenyatta. He was later released by the High Court. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD]

NAIROBI: A man is serving a two-year jail term for shoplifting a lotion worth Sh780 to please his bride.

Another was wrongfully detained for two years for “stealing” a girlfriend’s handbag. Yet another man was imprisoned for 20 months for being drunk and disorderly.

Justice has been swift and punitive for these petty offenders. Unlike high-profile cases that drag on in courts for years as well-heeled suspects evade accountability, the criminal justice system has been ruthlessly efficient for small-time offenders.

In the case of Sammy Waithaka, the judge rebuked the prosecution for the zeal with which they pursued him even without a formal complaint.

By the time the High Court intervened on June 24, last year, he had spent two years in jail for squirrelling with his girlfriend in a pub.

Mr Waithaka had been accused by Mary Rimi of stealing her handbag following a confrontation at the bar on the eve of the New Year 2013.

This prompted his arrest and arraignment in a Kerugoya court on January 2, 2013 and subsequent conviction.

In an incident that pokes holes in the country’s judicial process, the High Court found that Waithaka, who was Ms Rimi’s landlord, was wrongly convicted.

He is said to have differed with the girlfriend after he allegedly declined to refund the Sh50,000 deposit she had paid in advance for a shop he had leased to her.

The woman is said to have stormed out of the bar in anger, leaving the purse behind.

POLICE ACTIONS

Waithaka told the court that he took the bag and followed Rimi only for him to be accused of handling stolen property. The purse reportedly had Sh51,000 and lip balm.

In his ruling, Justice Richard Limo set Waithaka free, noting that his prosecution flouted procedure as he was taken to court before a formal complaint was filed.

Waithaka told the court under oath that he was taking the purse to Rimi, contrary to claims that he had stolen it.

“The appellant appeared to have been arrested and charged in court before a formal complaint was made, which is a bit odd and this may explain the reservation expressed by the appellant in this appeal that there was more to the charge facing him than meets the eye,” the judge noted.

Waithaka had told the court that his girlfriend owed him some rent money for a shop he had leased out to her and that there was a disagreement over some deposit.

“She admitted owing the appellant some money and that she had already paid him some deposit,” the judge noted. The court noted that her testimony also differed with that of the arresting officer, who said he arrested Waithaka at midnight while drunk with the purse.

“This court is unable to establish whether it was a question of a relationship gone sour or the issue of transaction and the attendant obligations. Whatever the case, what is clear in this appeal is that it has merit. The prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. There were many doubts demonstrated above, which should have benefited the appellant at the trial,” Justice Limo said.

Separately, Joseph Omwoyo wanted to please his new bride with a stolen lotion worth Sh780.

But that has separated him with his lover for two years as he does time for the offence committed last month.

The Magistrate’s Court convicted him on March 7 this year after he confessed to stealing the body lotion at a supermarket in Nairobi.

In mitigation, he pleaded for mercy, arguing that he was newly married and had no job to cater for his family.

But the court heard he was allegedly a habitual offender, having previously been charged with a similar offence.

And Allan Wadi, 26, paid dearly for insulting President Uhuru Kenyatta.

While he had thought he would only be compelled to apologise to the President, the offence saw him spend half a year in jail for failing to raise penalty fees for his wrongdoing.

Wadi was arrested as he attempted to sneak out of the country through the Busia border on December 31, 2014.

The Moi University student was slapped with a Sh200,000 fine or an alternative of three years in jail by a magistrate’s court.
The Political Science student, also known as Lieutenant Wadi, was accused of posting abusive messages on his Facebook account on December 18 and 19 the same year at an unknown place within Kenya. He pleaded guilty at a magistrate’s court but blamed Satan for his undoing.

Upon appeal, High Court judge Luka Kimaru freed him on July 25, 2015 noting that the lower court ought to have pardoned him as he needed to complete his studies.

“In the present appeal after his conviction, the appellant has been in prison. He has served the custodial sentence of one-year imprisonment he was ordered to serve. It will not serve the ends of justice if he is retried. In the period he has been in prison, he has learnt his lesson,” said Justice Kimaru.

But Simon Lepoyari wasn’t as lucky as he had served one year and eight months in jail before the High Court released him after appeal.

Lepoyari was arraigned at a magistrate’s court on February 3, 2012 and released by the High Court on November 15, 2013.

The lower court had convicted him on charges of being drunk and disorderly, destruction of property and resisting arrest.

He was first ordered to serve two years on probation and was to attend a drugs and alcohol rehabilitation programme but he allegedly robbed a person while serving the probation sentence.

The magistrate’s court cancelled the probation and handed him three months for being drunk, one year for resisting arrest and two years for destroying property. The court did not state if the sentences would run concurrently or consecutively.

Rabbit Thief

Judge Lucy Waithaka, however, later freed him.

In another case, Mark Karatu was in custody between 2008 to 2010 for trying to steal a rabbit. The evidence was a piece of wood he had broken from the cage during the midnight incident.

In the case, the State called six witnesses to support its argument. The main complainant told the court that on January 4, 2008, a commotion was heard at a rabbit cage. He tiptoed towards it but the intruder, on seeing him, vanished into a maize plantation. He screamed and neighbours combed through it and found Karatu in a hole.

It was testified that a piece of wood had been removed and a rabbit was lying outside. Karatu denied the claims but the magistrate’s court found him guilty and sentenced him to pay a fine of Sh15,000 or in default be imprisoned for 18 months. He appealed and the High Court ordered that he be released as police placed him in detention for six days while conducting investigations instead of the 24 hours required by the law.

Judge Wanjiru Karanja questioned how the police could take six days to investigate him, as the piece of wood had been brought to the station when he was arrested and the witnesses were within easy reach.