Court declines to order release of 3,000 convicts of robbery with violence

Justice Lawrence Mugambi. [File, Standard]

The High Court has declined a bid to order the mass release of over 3,000 inmates charged or convicted of robbery with violence, including seven suspects linked to the murder of former Kabete MP George Muchai, although the charges were based on sections that do not exist in law.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi, however, acknowledged that the DPP has continued to use unconstitutional Penal Code provisions to charge robbery with violence suspects since 2016, when the court had declared the sections unconstitutional.

While declining to free the suspects or issue a blanket order prohibiting all trials, prosecutions, or releases of persons charged with robbery with violence pending amendments to the law by Parliament, Justice Mugambi stated that issuing such directives would endanger public safety and disrupt the criminal justice system.

He also faulted the Attorney General for failing to comply with the 2016 directive to approach Parliament within 18 months to amend the law.

The court has, however, suspended the declaration of invalidity of the law until June 30, 2027, giving the State time to amend it.

The government has been given 18 months to amend the relevant sections.

 From midnight on June 30, 2027, any pending or fresh charges, prosecutions, or convictions founded solely on Sections 295 and 297 will be quashed for unconstitutionality, and any person held exclusively under those provisions will be released.