Today’s Court Update
#39. April 12th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled defence hearing was again adjourned. The court will try again on May 31st.
by E.Gutu
In a continuation of Case E029/21 at Kahawa Law Courts today, a defence hearing was scheduled before Hon. Ombewa. However, the proceedings were delayed as the two accused persons failed to arrive on time, causing a pause in the legal proceedings.
When the case file was initially called, neither of the accused individuals was present in the courtroom. Hon. Ombewa decided to set the file aside temporarily, allowing additional time for the accused to appear.
Upon revisiting the case later in the court session, with it being the last matter of the day, only one of the accused individuals was present. The second accused informed the court that he had arrived for the hearing along with his co-accused, but was unaware of his current whereabouts. He further explained that his co-accused had expressed feeling unwell upon arrival at the Law Courts.
In light of these circumstances, Hon. Ombewa made the decision to adjourn the case until the 31st of May. It was noted that both accused persons are now without legal representation, and will therefore present their defence on their own behalf.
Case Overview
On August 23rd, 2021, the two accused were found in the Miolongo area of Machokos County with one piece of elephant tusk weighing 1.545 kg.
Presiding Magistrate and Court: Hon. Boaz Mauro Ombewa – Senior Principal Magistrate | |
State Counsel: Kiprono | Advocates for the Accused: 1. Chacha 2. Anne K. Sengi |
Accused: 1. Albanus Kioko Musyoki 2. Albanus Kioko Peter | |
Charges:
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Date of Arrest: 2021-08-23 | Date of Arraignment: 2021-08-25 |
Location of Arrest: Miolongo, Machokos County | Contraband Seized: 1.545 kg (1 piece) |
Proceedings
#38. March 22nd, 2024 (Defence Hearing): The intended defence hearing did not take place as the entire court facility was closed for a team building event. It has been almost one year since the court ruled that the defence had a case to answer and there has been no hearing to date There have been 12 sittings in that time. April 12th has been assigned the next hearing date.
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#37. February 2nd, 2024 (Mention): This matter had been originally scheduled for February 23rd and SEEJ-AFRICA was not aware of the change of dates. Today a defence hearing date of March 22nd was set.
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#36. November 22nd, 2023 (Mention): This matter was coming up for further mention to fix a hearing date. It had been previously scheduled for 13 November 2023 but then it was made a holiday so court date was deferred to 16 November 2023. On 16th November not all defence advocates were present, a further mention date – which was today – was set for directions. A defence hearing has been slated for Feb 23rd, 2024.
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#35.November 16th, 2023 (Mention): Today’s mention was to fix a hearing date. This matter had previously been scheduled for November 13th, but due to it being gazetted as a public holiday was deferred to today. As not all defence advocates were present, a further mention date of November 22nd was provided.
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#34. October 9th, 2023 (Mention): Only one accused (Albanus Kioko Peter) was present, and his representation appeared virtually.
The magistrate was supposed to grant the counsel a defense hearing date, but because one accused was not present, the matter was given another mention date. A warrant of arrest was requested by the prosecutor and approved to ensure that Albanus Kioko Musioki attended the next court date.
Albanus Kioko Musioki later appeared in court at approximately 1:30 PM. He approached the prosecutor and was presented to the magistrate. He said the car he was traveling in broke down. The warrant of arrest was rescinded. Adjourned to November 13th for mention.
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#33. October 9th, 2023 (Mention): This was a mention for directions. The accused were absent but defence counsel joined virtually. The prosecution wanted the court to note that on October 6th, he had three witnesses ready to testify. A mention date of October 25th was set to fix a hearing date.
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#32. October 6th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): Today the court was not sitting as the Hon. Magistrate was away on training in Naivasha. The Hon. Oscar Wanyaga of Thika court presided and a mention date was set for October 9th.
The prosecution was present with three witnesses. Both advocates were present, one virtually.
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#33. August 14th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): Prosecution was ready to proceed as well as Mr. Chacha. However the advocate for the 2nd accused, Anne K. Sengi, was not ready to proceed as she was new and had just received instructions on Saturday. She requested for time to peruse the file. Court noted is as the last adjournment on defence side.
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#32. July 25th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled hearing did not proceed as the second accused was unwell. Hearing adjourned to August 14th, 2023.
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#31. June 20th, 2023 (Mention): This matter was mentioned today for the purpose of taking a date for defence hearing. In attendance was counsel for the 1st accused Mr. Chacha, however the 2nd accused was unrepresented. The court informed the 2nd accused that his counsel had filed a notice to cease acting for him. Hearing date agreed unanimously for July 25th, 2023.
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#30. May 23rd, 2023 (Mention): The matter was coming up for a mention to take a convenient date for defence hearing. The matter proceeded in chambers and another date was given of June 20th, 2023 to set a hearing date.
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#29. May 8th, 2023 (Hearing): The counsel for A#2 was absent and could not be reached. Case adjourned to be mentioned on May 23rd, 2023.
