A lot has happened on the corridors of justice in 2020 despite the year having been ravaged by the pandemic.
This year saw the Kenyan court deliver convictions and rulings that will remain etched in the minds and hearts of many Kenyans for years to come.
Kenya rose to number eight among the most corrupt countries in the world, but as the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) recorded an increase in conviction rates of 92% - as hinted in its annual report - one can clearly say the script is about to change for the better.
Below are some of the court rulings that defined 2020.
1 MP John Waluke
Sirisia MP John Waluke, in June 2020, was handed 67 years in jail with the alternative option of paying Ksh727 million in fine after he was found guilty of corruption charges levelled against him.
Waluke was convicted of fraud involving Ksh.313 million in maize dealings with the National Cereal and Produce Board.
The conviction of a sitting MP marked the most high-profile conviction secured so far by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in the publicized war against graft.
Senior Assistant DPP Alex Muteti, who prosecuted the case, had urged the court to apply a law requiring that a person convicted of graft pay three times the amount they had stolen.
Waluke was later released on a Ksh 10 million bail pending an appeal hearing.
2. Westgate terror attack suspects
In October 2020, two suspects in the September 2013 Westgate terror attack that left over 60 people dead and scores injured were successfully convicted over the attack in the capital, Nairobi, which saw more than 60 people dead and scores injured.
After dragging for years, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions under the guidance of Noordin Haji successfully prosecuted the case bringing it to a close.
The two suspects, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafa, were sentenced to 18 years each for providing support to the assailants. Abdi was handed an additional 15 years in jail for possession of materials promoting “terrorism”.
The third on trial, Liban Abdullahi Omar, whose brother was one of the attackers killed in the raid on the mall, was however, found not guilty.
3. Julius Wambua Freed
It was a moment of joy for former Kamiti prisoner Julius Wambua on Thursday, December 17, when he reunited with his family and friends after being freed by a Machakos court.
Wambua was sentenced to life in prison on January 24, 2012, after he was convicted of defiling his daughter, a charge that turned out to be fabricated.
In December 2020, Justice George Odunga, however, quashed the charge and directed that Wambua be released on Ksh30,000 bail pending an appeal by the DPP.
The suspect had been accused of defiling the daughter, Dorcas Mwende, who was aged 16 years at the time, accusations the girl maintains were untrue.
“The first petitioner has lodged two appeals both of which have been dismissed. The fact that the complainant whose evidence has in totality been refuted, rebutted, recanted and abandoned, her testimonies affirming coercion and threats from her mother at the time of making them in the trial court is in itself new and compelling evidence that would have resulted in a different verdict,” ruled the judge in the case after the daughter recanted her statement.
4. Court ruling on Marriages
In November 2020, The Court of Appeal, in a ruling, overturned the belief of property ownership in a marriage.
The court ruled that no partner in a marriage is automatically entitled to half of the property after a divorce.
The three-judge bench of Justices Hannah Okwengu, Patrick Kiage and Sankale ole Kantai found fault in a high court ruling where a woman was awarded 50% of the family property in Kenya.
The judges stated that Article 45 (3) of the constitution did not expressly give spouses equal share to the matrimonial property upon the dissolution of a marriage.
The ruling set precedence for cases involving the sharing of property in divorce matters noting that all partners were not entitled to half of the property upon dissolution.
5. Judy Wakhungu
Grace Wakhungu was in June 2020 sentenced to spend 69 years in prison after she was found guilty of Fraud alongside Sirisia MP John Waluke.
Grace Wakhungu hails from a powerful and well connected family with roots entrenched both in Kenya and Uganda. She is a sister to former Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori. She is also the mother of Prof Judy Wakhungu, who is a former Environment Cabinet Secretary and currently Kenya’s ambassador to France.
The Director of Public Prosecution was also offered an alternative of paying Ksh 707 million fine for fraudulently receiving Ksh 297 million from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in 2004. The maize procurement fraud was said to worth nearly USD 3 million.
The two Waluke and Wakhungu were charged alongside Erad Supplies & General Contracts Limited (Erad); a company where the two are said to be shareholders. Wakhungu was found guilty of six counts of fraud.
6. Ex-KRA Manager Charles Adams Otiso
A former Manager at Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) was convicted for accepting a Ksh 7,000 bribe.
Charles Adams Otiso had solicited a Ksh10,000 bribe, and had only received Ksh 7,000 when he got apprehended. Otiso was fined Ksh 50,000 for this seemingly miniature offense.
The bribe was reportedly aimed at facilitating the issuance of tax compliance certificates. The case left many corrupt individuals, as well as those aspiring to pocket bribes shaking in their boots.
