Richard Munguti And Caroline Rwenji
24 July 2008
Nairobi — It was song and dance at the High Court on Wednesday when five murder suspects were released and the State ordered to compensate them for illegal confinement since 2005.
This is one of the few cases where murder suspects are awarded compensation by the courts.
Justice Jackton Ojwang directed that the file for the five be placed before the Chief Justice Evan Gicheru to determine the amount of compensation payable.
The judge said there was no justification whatsoever for holding the suspects for a period of eight months before arraigning them. Justice Ojwang said: "Detaining the suspects for eight months was a total affront to their trial rights."
Those acquitted were Joseph Zakayo Maithya, Sammy Ndiku, Antony Muli Nzioka, John Mutinda and Morris Odhiambo.
Justice Ojwang added: "Since there was no evidence which the Attorney General could place before the court in support of the prosecution case, it follows that this court was moved in vain, prosecutorial power was not exercised in good faith and the accused persons were unlawfully curtailed."
They were arraigned over the murder of Mr Mutuku Mukanga at Tassia Estate in Nairobi on March 31, 2005. They first appeared before Lady Justice Kalpana Rawal on November 23, 2005.
Justice Ojwang heard the murder victim was in a group of people that clashed during a meeting convened by the late Embakasi Member of Parliament David Mwenje at Tassia.
The victim's group was made up of 50 members and it was confronted by a larger group that was armed with various weapons. A bloody confrontation erupted and all fled in different directions, leaving Mr Mukanga fatally injured.
Analysing the testimony of witnesses, Justice Ojwang noted that four of the suspects were arrested on orders of the officer commanding Embakasi Station, who was never called as a witness.
The judge said the OCS made a directive on March 31, 2005, after a volunteer showed up and claimed he would point to the law enforcers those who had allegedly caused the death of Mukanga.
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