Today’s Court Update
#6. January 31st, 2024 (Hearing): SEEJ-AFRICA was not in attendance. The court set the next hearing date to April 15th, 2024.
Case Overview
On July 28th, 2023 at approx 15:00hr, KWS with police support, and acting on a tip from the public arrested four individuals with elephant ivory. The operation took place in the Busia area, approximately 10 km from the Kenya/Uganda border.
The four suspects were found to be in possession of 10 pieces of elephant tusks in gunny bag, the contents weighing 28 kg.
The Busia border crossing area has seen a number of ivory seizures in the past few years. In 2022, law enforcement agencies seized 27 kg in January and 5.5 kg of ivory in November, a matter that was transferred to Kahawa court in Nairobi. In May 2021, an officer of the Uganda Defence Force was arrested with 30 kg of ivory and in December 2020, 1 man was arrested trying to sell 7.2 kg of ivory to undercover detectives.
Presiding Magistrate and Court: Hon. E. A. Nyaloti – Chief Magistrate Court 1 | |
State Counsel: | Advocates for the Accused: |
Accused: Kenneth Okemba Owinyi Samuel Jackson Agalo Sarah Anyango Oruya Jacinta Nekesa Ong’eno | |
Charges:
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Date of Arrest: 2023-07-28 | Date of Arraignment: 2023-07-31 |
Location of Arrest: Busia Township, Busia | Contraband Seized: 28 kg (10 pcs) |
Proceedings
#5. December 6th, 2023 (Hearing): Today would have been the first hearing in this trial. It did not take place due to an administrative error by the courts regarding an assignment error between court 1 and two. All accused were present and ready to proceed. Matter adjourned to January 31st, 2024.
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#4. September 27th, 2023 (Mention): DNA
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#3. September 4th, 2023 (Mention): The two accused, Samuel Jackson Agalo and Sarah Anyango Oruya have not been able to make bail conditions and remain in custody. The next court date for a hearing remains at December 6th, 2023.
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#2. August 16th, 2023 (Mention): Two accused, Kenneth Okemba Owinyi and Jacinta Nekesa Ong’eno made bail and were released. Jackson and Anyango will remain in custody until at least September 4th when there will be a mention date regarding their bail. A hearing date was also set for December 6th, 2023.
There was a suggestion made today to a SEEJ representative that this would be case that one should abandon.
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#1. July 31st, 2023 (Plea): All accused pleaded not guilty. The case will be mentioned August 16th, 2023 to deal with bail. All accused remanded until that time
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