Final Court Update
#>49. November 7th, 2024 (Sentencing): (SEEJ-AFRICA not in attendance). Today Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro sentenced Paul Muranu Mwangi and Lawrence Kinoti as follows:
Count One: 1 million shilling fine or in default five years imprisonment.
Count Two: 20 million shilling fine or in default life imprisonment.
It is not known if the sentences run concurrent or consecutively but it will not matter as the sentence is being appealed and will be reduced.
The third accused, Kipkoech Cheruiyot, was acquitted.
By SEEJ-AFRICA records, this is the second longest trial involving charges against the WMCA lasting 9 years and 3 months. The exact number of sittings cannot be ascertained as the digital filling system did not come on line until approximately 2019. While it can be said for certain that there were at least 49 sittings, it was almost certainly over 70.
*****************************
#>48. October 24th, 2024 (Judgement):
After eight consecutive adjournments, the long-awaited judgement in case number 3412/15 was finally delivered this afternoon at the Kibera Law Courts by Hon. Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro.
The three accused persons appeared on the dock, with Miss Mohammed holding brief for Mr. Makori, representing the 1st and 2nd accused.
At 3.30 p.m., Hon. Maroro rendered her judgement, convicting the 1st and 2nd accused, Paul Mwangi and Lawrence Kinoti, while acquitting the 3rd accused, Kipkoech Cheruiyot, citing insufficient evidence to secure a conviction in his case.
The trial has been a prolonged one, with numerous adjournments and heightened expectations surrounding today’s outcome. Hon. Maroro’s decision to acquit Mr. Cheruiyot rested on the prosecution’s failure to provide substantial proof linking him to the crime.
In mitigation, the defense pleaded for leniency for the convicted duo. For Paul Mwangi, it was argued that he was a family man and the sole breadwinner, with no prior criminal record. For Lawrence Kinoti, the defense emphasized that he had two young children dependent on him and suffered from arthritis, which they contended should be considered as mitigating factors.
The defence counsel urged the court to consider imposing a non-custodial sentence, given the circumstances of the accused, and requested an extension of their bond until sentencing. However, the prosecution strongly opposed these pleas, arguing that the crime for which Mwangi and Kinoti were convicted was serious and that they should be remanded pending sentencing, in accordance with due process.
In her ruling, Hon. Maroro sided with the prosecution, ordering the immediate custody of the two convicts. The case will be mentioned again on the 7th of November, pending the preparation of a sentencing report.
by E.Gutu
Case Overview
Kenya: Prison Warders Deny Having Ivory
By Annette Wambulwa (The Star) 13 Aug 2015
Two prison wardens yesterday were charged with having ivory worth Sh500,000. Paul Mwangi and Lawrence Kinoti denied having the ivory in Nairobi West on Tuesday. They were also charged with dealing in wildlife trophies without a permit from the Kenya Wildlife Trophies.
They appeared before Kibera senior principal magistrate Elizabeth Osoro and pleaded for reasonable bond terms. Police reports said the officers got a tip from the public about people with the illegal tusks. A trap was laid and police arrested them. They were each released on a Sh500,000 bond. The case will be heard on September 16.
SEEJ-AFRICA: While we are showing this prosecution having been in court more than 34 times, it has in fact, probably been in court closer to 70 times due to the delay between arraignment and when it was placed on the electronic filing system.
Presiding Magistrate and Court: Hon. Monicah Maroro – Principal Magistrate Court 8 Previous – Hon. Jane Kamau | |
State Counsel: | Advocates for the Accused: Makori |
Accused:
| |
Charges:
| |
Date of Arrest: 2015-08-11 | Date of Arraignment: 2015-08-12 |
Location of Arrest: Nairobi West | Contraband Seized: 5 kg |
Proceedings
#>47. September 24th, 2024 (Judgement): It is difficult not to editorialise when the farcical comedy continues to play out in the Kibera court of Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro over a pending judgement for three prison warders accused of trafficking ivory in 2015.
Today was the eighth sitting in a row since April where the court has delayed handing down a verdict. This afternoon, at 4:20pm, the court was advised by an advocate holding brief for regular defence counsel, Albert Makori, that Makori’s mother was suffering from an illness and he had to leave to attend. Mr. Makori had been seen in court during the morning.
The previous reasons for adjourning the judgment were: the judgement was not ready (3), the Magistrate was unwell (2), it was too late in the day (1), and reason not provided (1).
One can speculate that the accused, through their counsel and even the court, are delaying judgement to gather funds to pay whatever fine is about to be levied should they be convicted.
Judgement attempt #9 is scheduled for October 24th.
******************************
#>46. August 29th, 2024 (Judgement): Today was the 7th consecutive sitting where Principal Magistrate Maroro was unable to deliver the judgement in this nine year old case.
The reason provided today was that judgement could not be handed down due to the late hour of the day. This was announced at 15:40 hrs.
The Hon. Magistrate initially suggested that the matter be adjourned to the following Monday, September 2nd. Defence counsel objected, however, citing the long distances having to be travelled by his clients.
The next crack at having a final judgement rendered will be September 24th.
******************************
#>45. July 25th, 2024 (Judgement): Today’s judgement did not take place as Hon. Principal Magistrate Maroro was unwell and did not attend court. That news was not shared with the court attendees before all had been in attendance for two hours. The matter was adjourned to August 29th, 2024.
******************************
#>44. July 11th, 2024 (Judgement): The fifth attempt to deliver the judgement was not successful as it was not ready. It has now been re-scheduled for July 25th, 2024.
******************************
#>43. June 13th, 2024 (Judgement): The judgement again did not take place. Today, more specifically in the afternoon, the Hon. Magistrate declared she was unwell and the remaining matters were adjourned. We will try this again on July 11th.
******************************
#>42. May 31st, 2024 (Judgement): The judgement was again not ready. The court adjourned the matter to June 13th. This case has been before the courts since August 2015.
by E.Gutu
The judgment in case number 3412/15 was postponed for the third consecutive time today at the Kibera Law Courts.
The court session in Courtroom 8 began at 11:45 AM with Honorable Magistrate Maroro presiding. Today’s development on the case was a re-play of the last court date where the case file was absent from the court’s docket and was never called up. Also neither the accused persons nor their attorneys were present in court today. This absence suggests they had been informed in advance about the likely postponement, similar to the last adjournment.
Hon. Maroro, evidently, has not yet completed determining the case and requires additional time to deliver a verdict. This marks the third postponement of the judgment.
The case now has its judgment rescheduled for June 13, 2024 when, hopefully, this next scheduled date will bring closure to the proceedings.
******************************
#>41. May 22nd, 2024 (Judgement): The judgement was not ready. The court adjourned the matter to May 31st. This case has been before the courts since August 2015.
by E.Gutu
In courtroom 8 at Kibera Law Courts today, the judgement in case number 3412/15 was postponed again. Presiding Principal Magistrate Hon. Monicah Maroro, who had previously delayed the verdict, has requested additional time to conclude the decision-making process.
Today’s session, which began at 10:30 AM—an hour and a half later than the usual start time—was expected to finally deliver the long-awaited verdict. However, the case file was absent from the court’s docket and was never called up.
Upon further inquiry, SEEJ-Africa learned that the judgment would not be delivered today as Hon. Maroro had not completed her deliberations. The accused persons and their legal representation were notably absent from the courtroom, perhaps indicating they had been informed in advance of the delay.
This case has seen several postponements, with today’s delay marking yet another extension in a series of adjournments. This prosecution is two months away from its 9 year anniversary.
The new date for the judgment has been set for May 31st, giving Hon. Maroro a further nine days to finalize her decision.
******************************
#>40. April 17th, 2024 (Judgement): The judgement was not ready. The court adjourned the matter to May 22nd.
by E.Gutu
The awaited judgement in case file number 3412/15 was postponed today. The case, presided over by Hon. Maroro in court number 8, was expected to reach a conclusion today, but instead, it was adjourned to allow the magistrate more time to finalize her decision.
The courtroom, filled with restlessness as the clock ticked past 9.30 am, the scheduled start time of the court proceedings. It wasn’t until 11:30 am that the court finally convened. However, when the case file was called the three accused persons, along with their legal representation, were conspicuously absent.
Hon. Maroro revealed that she had not completed the writing of the judgement report, pausing today’s proceedings on the case. The magistrate expressed her need for additional time to conclude her decision in this case. Consequently, the case has been rescheduled for the 22nd of May, when Hon. Maroro will be expected to render her decision.
******************************
#>39. March 28th, 2024 (Mention – Submissions): The court has set a judgement date of April 17th.
******************************
#>38. March 25th, 2024 (Mention – Submissions): The court set another mention date of March 28th to confirm submissions. (SEEJ-AFRICA not in attendance)
******************************
#>37. March 5th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): A Mention date was set for filing submissions of March 25th. (SEEJ-AFRICA not in attendance)
******************************
#>36. February 27th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): All three accused, Paul Muraya Mwangi, Laurence Kinoti, and Kipkoech Cheriot were present in court. Mr. Makori represented the 1st and 2nd accused, and Mr. Ongaro ,the 3rd accused.
At first, defence counsel requested 30 minutes before they could proceed. When the case was called again, they made an application for adjournment which was denied. The magistrate emphasized the case was from 2015 and told them to proceed as is.
The accused were the only witnesses present and they all presented sworn statements on the witness stand.
Accused #1
Paul Muraya Mwangi is a prison constable who lives and works in Kangeta, Meru. He has been working at the prison since 2007, and the other accused persons in this case are his co-workers.
On August 11th, 2015, he travelled from Meru to Nairobi with Laurence Kinoti (A#2) to acquire a loan from Magereza Sacco. However, the company’s system was down, so they were asked to return the next day. They had to look for accommodation for the night and decided to visit a previous acquaintance residing in Nairobi West, who had been a prison warden at Kangeta but had been transferred. On their way to Nairobi West, they were arrested by KWS officers near Nyayo Stadium.
On clarification from his advocate, Mwangi stated he knows nothing about the Rio Hotel (referred to by prosecution) or where it is located. He also confirmed that he did not hear of any location data presented by the prosecution, showing he was there. According to the accused, he did not sign the inventory presented before the court nor was there any mention of an inventory in the IO’s statement. The defence forwarded an application to remove the inventory from the exhibits.
He also agrees that the IO did not present any CCTV footage to verify that the accused was in the Rio Hotel as mentioned, nor did he produce any fingerprint document to show proof that the ivory found was handled by the accused.
During cross-examination by the third accused’s advocate, Mr Ongaro, Mwangi denied naming a third person who ran away during the arrest. He also confirmed that there was no third person who ran away when he was arrested.
Accused #2
Laurence Kinoti, is a corporal who works at Kangeta Prison. He testified that he was with the 1st witness, Paul Mwangi, and he confirmed that the account was accurate. He agreed that it should be adopted as his. During cross-examination by the third accused’s defence, Mr Ongaro, he also denied naming a third person who ran away and confirmed that there was no third person who ran away when they were arrested.
Accused #3
Kipkoech Cheriot is a prison officer who lives at Kangeta prison. On August 11th, 2015, he was in Meru working like any other day. He was not in Nairobi West, nor was he with the 1st and 2nd accused. He does not know anyone who sells or buys ivory and the first time he’s ever seen ivory was in court when it was presented. The defence presented a letter from Kangeta prison that contained the duty roster for August 2015. The duty roster contained the days that Kipkoech was on duty from the 9th to the 14th. On the roster, it is recorded that the accused was in Meru on the August 11th, 2015.
Defence counsel wants to present the letter and duty roster as evidence DMFI 2, but the validity of the document is in question since the author of the letter is not present in court. They requested another date and summons to Mr Martin G. Ireri.
In the cross-examination, the prosecution questioned the validity of the document and defence counsel responded by showing the official prison stamps on all the pages and the officer in charge’s signatures.
The next court date is the March 5th, 2024.
******************************
#>35. December 22nd, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled defence hearing did not take place despite Principal Magistrate Maroro’s order to defence counsel three days previous.
Today all matters in the 10 Kibera courtrooms were re-directed to courtroom 8. This meant that Hon. Maroro had over 40 cases to preside over. She did not help her own cause by appearing in the courtroom at just minutes to 12 noon without explanation or apology to advocates, clients, witnesses, and interested parties.
Case 3412/15 faced further delay when it was discovered that the case file had not been brought to court. This was brought to attention only after the defence lawyer, Mr Makori, demanded to know why his client’s case had not been called up. The file had to be urgently retrieved from the registry, further delaying proceedings.
Mr. Makori, visibly displeased, took the opportunity to express his frustration at the state of affairs in the court room. He requested the court to reschedule the hearing for another date. Surprisingly, there was no objection from Hon. Maroro herself, who had previously denied a similar request from Mr. Makori 3 days previous. The overwhelmed Court 8 prosecutor, grappling with the sheer volume of cases in Court Room 8 today, did not oppose the defence’s request for an adjournment.
The three accused individuals—Mwangi, Kinoti, and the previously absent Cheruiyot—were all present in court. Cheruiyot, notably, appeared with his legal representative.
In light of the circumstances and the mutual agreement between the defence and the court, the defence hearing was adjourned to the February 27th, 2024.
The proceedings in courtroom eight today highlighted the challenges faced by the Kibera Law Courts and others in managing their caseload and maintaining efficient proceedings during the holiday season.
by E. Gutu
#>34. December 19th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled defence hearing did not take place.
by E. Gutu
The defence hearing for case 3412/15, involving the possession of ivory trophies, failed to proceed today in Court Room 8. The proceedings were halted when the defence lawyer, Mr. Makori, informed the court of a family emergency that rendered him unable to continue with the case. The accused persons, Paul Mwangi and Lawrence Kinoti, appeared before Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro, charged with dealing and possession of 5 kg of ivory.
Mr. Makori, representing both accused , requested the court to reschedule the hearing to a later date next year, citing the gravity of the family emergency he was currently facing. However, the presiding magistrate, Hon. Maroro, rejected his plea and instead adjourned the case to the 22nd of December.
Magistrate Maroro, in her decision, revealed that she had received explicit orders from the office of the Chief Justice to expedite the resolution of cases that have been in the backlog for a long period. Despite Mr. Makori’s insistence on the severity of his family situation, Hon. Maroro would not budge in her decision to have the case rescheduled to be heard in three days.
Mr. Makori, visibly concerned, pleaded with the court to reconsider, emphasizing the genuine nature of his family emergency. Unfortunately for the defence, Hon. Maroro maintained her decision and insisted that the case would resume as planned on the December 22nd.
SEEJ-AFRICA Note: This is the first appearance in court for SEEJ in this matter. However, the editor can recall reading of this arrest 8 1/2 years ago, memorable for the fact that the accused were prison wardens. Is it wrong to question the length of time taken to reach the defence hearing stage of this prosecution?
******************************
#>33. October 31st, 2023 (Ruling):Principal Magistrate Monicah Maroro today ruled that there was a case to answer and the accused were put on their defence. The matter has been adjourned to December 19th for defence hearing.
******************************
#1. August 11th, 2015 (Plea): The two accused were charged with dealing and possession of wildlife trophies and pleaded not guilty before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Elizabeth Osoro.
