The High Court has confirmed the convictions of two men found guilty of violently robbing a family in their Kibera home. However, the court has replaced their death sentences with 30 years of imprisonment.
Simon Muasa John, also known as Christopher Simon Makau, and James Muraguri Mwangi faced two counts of robbery with violence stemming from the August 2023 incident. The court revealed that they, along with an accomplice who was not present, entered the property after a security guard opened the gate for them.
Once inside, they confronted the family members, including a grandmother and her grandson, with one attacker wielding a knife. The robbers restrained the victims and locked them in a downstairs toilet while stealing cash, jewelry, and other valuables.
The grandmother recounted her harrowing experience in court, explaining how they dragged her upstairs by her hair, assaulted her, and demanded the location of hidden money before returning her to the toilet.
After the robbers fled, one victim managed to escape and free the others. Later, the family reviewed CCTV footage, which showed the security guard opening the gate for the intruders and captured clear images of the attackers.
The grandmother identified both appellants as her assailants and recognized their photographs from the footage. The trial court subsequently convicted them and imposed the death penalty.
The appellants appealed both the convictions and the sentences, claiming that the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient and unreliable. They argued that the trial court did not adequately consider their defenses and deemed the death sentence too harsh.
They requested the High Court to overturn their convictions, nullify the sentences, and accept their appeal. However, Justice Dina Kavedza found the prosecution’s case compelling and upheld the convictions. The judge dismissed the appellants’ defenses as mere denials that did not undermine the consistent and corroborated evidence presented by the prosecution.
The first appellant alleged he had been framed due to a business dispute with one of the witnesses and questioned the authenticity of the CCTV footage. He described himself as a businessman who was lured to a meeting under false pretenses and arrested.
The second appellant denied involvement in the robbery, claiming he was at home in Meru during the attack. He pointed out the lack of receipts for the stolen items and argued that none of the victims had known him prior to the incident. Despite offering an alibi, he did not provide any supporting witnesses.
The court determined that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the appellants used actual violence while armed with a dangerous weapon to rob the complainants. While Section 296(2) of the Penal Code prescribes the death penalty for robbery with violence, the judge emphasized that sentencing is ultimately at the discretion of the court.
In light of recent appellate rulings, the court deemed the death sentence imposed by the trial court excessive. Consequently, it replaced the death sentences with 30 years of imprisonment for each count, with the sentences to run concurrently.
