Proceedings
#41. May 2nd, 2024 (Judgement): This judgement did not take place.
Previously, on April 25th, SEEJ-AFRICA attended court 4 for the scheduled judgement in this case. There were seven judgements scheduled that day and atypically, they were dealt with in the morning; six judgements were rendered. The only one that was not, was this matter. The court set over the judgement to May 2nd.
It was discovered on May 1st, that the judiciary efiling system indicated that a judgement had been delivered on this matter on April 25th. SEEJ-AFRICA attended court 4 on May 2nd to discover that this matter was also not on the cause list for the day.
At this point it was assumed that the judgement had been somehow delivered later in the day on April 25th. SEEJ-AFRICA went to the registry office to get a copy of the judgement. We were advised that the file had not yet been forwarded to them from court 4. It was recommended that SEEJ-AFRICA speak with the court assistant in court 4.
This took time as court 4 was extremely busy, but on a break at approximately 11:18 hr, SEEJ-AFRICA was told that the judgement had not been delivered and it was supposed to happen today.
At approximately 15:00 hr, SEEJ-AFRICA was advised that the judgement was not ready and would be rendered the following Thursday, May 9th.
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#40. April 25th, 2024 (Judgement): Courtroom 4 of Senior Resident Magistrate William Lopokoiyit had scheduled seven judgements for todays session. He delivered six but ivory case 664/18 was the odd man out. The court set a new judgement date of May 2nd.
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#39. February 27th, 2024 (Mention – submissions): The accused, Mr. Jason Ondieki, made his appearance before the presiding judge, Hon. Lopkoiyit, accompanied by his legal representative, Mr. Makori.
The primary agenda for today’s proceedings was the highlighting of submissions that both parties had filed at the beginning of January this year. This process was today done in writing as opposed to orally being presented in court.
The court has set the date for the rendering of the verdict on this case for the 25th of April, 2024.
by E. Gutu
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#38. February 15th, 2024 (Mention): This mention was to confirm the filing of submissions. A date for “Highlighting of Submissions” was given for February 27th. (SEEJ-AFRICA was not in attendance)
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#37. February 1st, 2024 (Mention): This mention was to confirm the filing of submissions. Another mention date of February 15th, 2024 has been given. (SEEJ-AFRICA was not in attendance)
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#36. January 16th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): The proceedings for case 664/18 resumed today at Kibera Law Courts courtroom 4, with Jason Ondieki taking the stand to testify on his own behalf. The Honorable SRM W. Lopkoiyit presided over the matter.
Mr. Ondieki’s testimony centered around the events leading up to his arrest, shedding light on a dispute with Francis Joram, a man he had employed for a trench-digging job in his home in Mukuru kwa Reuben.
According to Ondieki, the disagreement arose when Joram demanded full payment for an unfinished job, leading to a heated exchange between the two. Ondieki said he offered to pay him a third of the payment but Francis refused the payment. He allegedly proceeded to threaten him, telling him he would regret not paying him the full amount.
Ondieki claimed that a week later, Francis called to apologize, requesting to meet in person. Ondieki testified that that evening Francis, accompanied by a stranger named Asman, came to his house. The accused continued that Francis had a small suitcase which he placed in a corner in Mr Ondieki’s house. Asman went out to make a phone call and later informed Francis and Ondieki that he would leave to go to a relative’s house to spend the night.
The following day at around 10 am, Francis left Ondieki’s house but didn’t tell him where he was going. A moment after he had left, Francis called Ondieki to inform him that he had forgotten his suitcase and if Ondieki could bring the suitcase to him. Ondieki grabbed the suitcase, got on a boda boda and headed to Hillocks Hotel where Francis had told him he would be. When he got there Francis was in the company of another man unknown to Ondieki. Francis invited Ondieki to join them but Ondieki declined.
As Ondieki was about to leave, having handed Francis the suitcase, police officers surrounded them and took them in custody for being in possession of illegal ivory suspected to be in the suitcase. Ondieki said they were put in a vehicle to be transported to the police station. Mr Ondieki said, however, somewhere on the way to the police station, the vehicle stopped and Ondieki was asked to get out.
He alleged that a policeman took him a short distance from the vehicle and started beating him, telling him to admit to being the owner of the suitcase. He said that when he finally took him back to the vehicle, the two people he had been arrested with, Francis and his companion from the Hillock’s Hotel, were not in the vehicle. Ondieki said he was then taken to Langata police station where he wrote a statement.
The prosecution, however, presented a different narrative during the cross-examination. The police statement, purportedly written by Ondieki and read out by the prosecutor, outlined a plan between Ondieki, Francis, and Asman to spend the night at Ondieki’s place. The plan involved meeting a buyer the next day and receiving a cut of 50,000 Kenyan shillings. Ondieki vehemently denied writing or signing this statement, claiming a lack of understanding of the English language in which it was written.
Ondieki’s defense attorney, Mr. Makori, informed the court that his client had little to no understanding of English, and no translation was provided during the statement’s recording at the police station. Mr. Makori asserted that the defence would be prepared to present submissions on February 1st.
Previous proceedings involved testimony from two prosecution witnesses: a representative from the Museums of Kenya confirming the authenticity of seized ivory, and an officer from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Interestingly, the defence revealed that the ivory exhibits had not been presented in court since the case began.
The court adjourned with the next proceedings scheduled for February 1st, 2024 when Mr. Makori is expected to present the defence’s submissions.
by E. Gutu
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#36. January 16th, 2024 (Defence Hearing):
The proceedings for case 664/18 resumed today at Kibera Law Courts courtroom 4, with Jason Ondieki taking the stand to testify on his own behalf. The Honourable SRM W. Lopkoiyot presided over the matter.
Mr. Ondieki’s testimony centered around the events leading up to his arrest, shedding light on a dispute with Francis Joram, a man he had employed for a trench-digging job in his home in Mukuru kwa Reuben.
According to Ondieki, the disagreement arose when Joram demanded full payment for an unfinished job, leading to a heated exchange between the two. Ondieki said he offered to pay him a third of the payment but Francis refused the payment. He allegedly proceeded to threaten him, telling him he would regret not paying him the full amount. Ondieki claimed that a week later, Francis called to apologize, requesting to meet in person.
Ondieki testified that that evening Francis, accompanied by a stranger named Asman, came to his house. the accused continued that Francis had a small suitcase which he placed in a corner in Mr Ondieki’s house. Asman went out to make a phone call and later informed Francis and Ondieki that he would leave to go to a relative’s house to spend the night.
The following day at around 10 am Francis left Ondieki’s house but didn’t tell him where he was going. A moment after he had left, Francis called Ondieki to inform him that he had forgotten his suitcase and if Ondieki could bring the suitcase to him. Ondieki grabbed the suitcase, got on a boda boda and headed to Hillocks Hotel where Francis had told him he would be. When he got there Francis was in the company of another man unknown to Ondieki. Francis invited Ondieki to join them but Ondieki declined.
As Ondieki was about to leave, having handed Francis the suitcase, police officers surrounded them and took them in custody for being in possession of illegal ivory suspected to be in the suitcase. Ondieki said they were put in a vehicle to be transported to the police station. Mr Ondieki said, however, somewhere on the way to the police station the vehicle stopped and Ondieki was asked to get out.
He alleged that a policeman took him a short distance from the vehicle and started beating him, telling him to admit to being the owner of the suitcase. He said that when he finally took him back to the vehicle, the two people he had been arrested with, Francis and his companion from the Hillock’s Hotel were not in the vehicle. Ondieki said he was then taken to Langata police station where he wrote a statement.
The prosecution, however, presented a different narrative during the cross-examination. The police statement, purportedly written by Ondieki and read out by the prosecutor, outlined a plan between Ondieki, Francis, and Asman to spend the night at Ondieki’s place. The plan involved meeting a buyer the next day and receiving a cut of 50,000 Kenyan shillings.
Ondieki vehemently denied writing or signing this statement, claiming a lack of understanding of the English language in which it was written.
Ondieki’s defense attorney, Mr. Makori, informed the court that his client had little to no understanding of English, and no translation was provided during the statement’s recording at the police station. Mr. Makori asserted that the defence would be prepared to present submissions on February 1st.
Previous proceedings involved testimony from two prosecution witnesses: a representative from the Museums of Kenya confirming the authenticity of seized ivory and an officer from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). Interestingly, the defence revealed that the ivory exhibits had not been presented in court since the case began.
The court adjourned with the next proceedings scheduled for February 1st, when Mr. Makori is expected to present the defence’s submissions.
by E. Gutu
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#35. January 15th, 2024 (Defence Hearing): The scheduled defence hearing did not occur at the request of the prosecution. The newly arrived prosecutor sought additional time to familiarize herself with the details of the case. While the defense did not raise any objections to the prosecutor’s request, Hon.Lopkoiyot was not pleased with the prospect of another adjournment. The magistrate expressed concern that the case, which has already taken a considerable amount of time to conclude, should not face further delays.
The magistrate decided to grant the prosecutor’s request for an extension but imposed a strict deadline. The prosecutor was instructed to familiarize herself with the case by tomorrow, emphasizing the need to conclude the case. The defense hearing is now rescheduled to take place tomorrow (January 16th), ensuring that the proceedings move forward without additional delays. Therefore defence hearing scheduled for Tuesday, January 16th.
by E. Gutu
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#34. November 27th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The defence hearing did not take place as the prosecutor was away on training in Naivasha. The matter is adjourned to January 15th for hearing.
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#33. November 21st, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The slated defence hearing did not take place. The accused had been admitted to hospital to the matter was adjourned to November 27th for hearing.
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#32. September 26th, 2023 (Defence hearing ): This defence hearing did not take place. The court 9 prosecutor was handling matters in court 4 and was unfamiliar with the case. Defence hearing adjourned to November 21st.
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#31. July 27th, 2023 (Defence hearing): The defence advocate was again not ready to proceed. The court adjourned the matter to September 26th for defence hearing.
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#30. April 26th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): The advocate was not ready and requested an adjournment. The court adjourned the matter to July 27th to continue the defence hearing. (SEEJ- AFRICA – First appearance)
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#29. February 27th, 2023 (Defence Hearing): Defence hearing adjourned for reasons unknown.
