Two men who were arrested in 2014 with 143kilogrammes of wildlife trophies worth Sh14.3Million have been jailed for 20 years by a Kibera Court.
The two were jailed in absentia and the court noted that they had skipped almost all the court proceedings despite massive warrant of arrests.
We are still investigating to know whether their missing in court is intentional, police cover up or they were murdered.
According two; Musa Maseleka Kisembo and Francis Kamau Wangechi were jailed on Monday by Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Margret Murage after the prosecution successfully proved the case against them.
According to the chargesheet, the accused persons committed the offence on October 22,2014 at Limuru road along Nairobi-Nakuru Highway within Kiambu County.
The court heard that they committed the offence alongside others not before the court.
While sentencing the accused person, the magistrate noted that the offence was committed and the accused persons were well identified and ordered them to serve a 20 year jail term.
” I have considered the whole case in totality and i found that the accused persons intentionally or with the reasons known to themselves absconded all the court sessions, i hereby sentence them to 20 years in jail in absentia,” ruled the magistrate.
She also noted that the warrants of arrests issued against the accused persons remains in force hence allowing the detectives to continue searching for them and make arrests
While testifying in court during the hearing of the case, KWS detective Timothy Indeche told the court that he was on duty when he received a call from his boss notifying him on the business that the accused persons were dealing in.
” I received a phone call from my boss who informed me that there were some people who were dealing with wildlife trophies in a prado and together with my colleagues swung into action,” he told Senior Principal Magistrate Derrick Kuto during the hearing.
He said that through coordination, they managed to pose as potential buyers and arrested the accused persons.
Police Constable Benard Maina too testified in court and narrated on how things unfolded.
On previous occasions the prosecution urged the detectives to avail the suspects in court but that never happened as the accused persons remained elusive.
Once arrested, they will be taken to the cells to serve their sentence.