
Case Overview
Kenya: Prison Warders Deny Having Ivory
Presiding Magistrate and Court: Hon. Monicah Maroro – Principal Magistrate Court 8 Previous – Hon. Jane Kamau | |
State Counsel: | Advocates for the Accused: Makori |
Accused:
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Charges:
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Date of Arrest: 2015-08-11 | Date of Arraignment: 2015-08-12 |
Location of Arrest: Nairobi West | Contraband Seized: 5 kg |
Proceedings
#>37. March 5th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): A Mention date was set for filing submissions of March 25th. (SEEJ-AFRICA not in attendance)
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.
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.
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.
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#>34. December 19th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled defence hearing did not take place.
by E. Gutu
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?
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