Nipate
Forum => Kenya Discussion => Topic started by: Real P on July 30, 2016, 11:10:59 AM
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KENYA: Stealing cooked food and a thermos flask can land you in jail for five years. A 17-year-old boy who decided to help himself with some sumptuous meal made of two kilograms of meat and rice from a relative's hotel and left with the thermos maybe for tea on September 2, 2013 will now pay for it with five years in jail with no fine.
Mathematics done by the court indicates that the food plus the thermos would cost meagre Sh1,750. The act of stealing did not please the magistrate and subsequently the judge who decided that the minor should have some time in the colds as a punishment.
Rodgers Lagat broke into his relative's hotel in Chebarbar area, Nandi County and he admitted committing the offence.
He was however remorseful and asked the court to forgive him but Justice Kanyi Kimondo could not be moved by the pleas. The judge found that the offence attracted seven years and thus the lower court rightly convicted the young man.
Lagat was charged with committing felony.
"The sentence meted out of five years was well within the law. The learned trial magistrate took into consideration that the appellant was a first offender and remorseful. This court will not alter a sentence on the mere ground that it might have passed a somewhat different sentence," Justice Kimondo ruled.
Lagat told the court that the person he offended had already forgiven him but the judge noted that forgiveness was not enough for the charge that he faced. "It matters little that the appellant and complainant have since buried the hatchet," the judge ruled adding that the appeal filed in 2014 did not hold any weight to allow for acquittal.
According to court record, Lagat was at the time of the offence a primary school student. He argued that the custodial jail term would negatively impact on his academic life.
"I pray for forgiveness," Lagat pleaded with the court in a bid to secure a release. It also emerged that he was a first time offender.
Judge Kimondo was of the view that the lower court considered all the prayers by the boy and thus he could not set aside the sentence. "The learned trial Magistrate considered that the appellant was a first offender.
He also took into account the mitigation offered. He sentenced the appellant to five years imprisonment. The plea for mercy before this court must be looked at through those lenses. Section 306 (a) of the Penal Code provides for a sentence of up to seven years. The upshot is that the appeal has no merit and is dismissed," he ruled.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000207637/seventeen-year-old-sentenced-to-5-years-for-stealing-cooked-meat-and-thermos
That's right: everything.
Our criminal justice system has become a joke. It is an abomination that no big shot has ever gone to jail for any corruption scandal in my memory. (We jail the poor for stealing rice and beef stew while NYS funds theft culprits and Eurobond thieves walk free). That we are not putting them away is a huge national shame. The so called ‘dynamic duo’ as their sheeple call them are to blame for this - but the coalition government of Kibaki and Odinga takes the lion's share for appointing a toothless Keriako Tobiko to the top public prosecutions office.
Let's be real. Ordinary citizens have no control whatsoever over what goes on in our country.
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Our society has become really good at punishing the little guy (sometimes for nothing at all) and abysmal at taking on the big guys who are perpetrating monstrous crimes against society.
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I was about to take out my red pen :D
Our society has become really good at punishing the little guy (sometimes for nothing at all) and abysmal at taking on the big guys who are perpetrating monstrous crimes against society.
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I am afraid The Standard has joined The Nation in the Hall of Mediocrity. Both have been replaced by Capital FM and to much lesser extent The Star.
There is a woman at Capital by the name Olive Burrows.... she is going places. She can write. I have no idea why she is not the Chief Editor at The Nation.
KENYA: Stealing cooked food and a thermos flask can land you in jail for five years. A 17-year-old boy who decided to help himself with some sumptuous meal made of two kilograms of meat and rice from a relative's hotel and left with the thermos maybe for tea on September 2, 2013 will now pay for it with five years in jail with no fine.
Mathematics done by the court indicates that the food plus the thermos would cost meagre Sh1,750. The act of stealing did not please the magistrate and subsequently the judge who decided that the minor should have some time in the colds as a punishment.
Rodgers Lagat broke into his relative's hotel in Chebarbar area, Nandi County and he admitted committing the offence.
He was however remorseful and asked the court to forgive him but Justice Kanyi Kimondo could not be moved by the pleas. The judge found that the offence attracted seven years and thus the lower court rightly convicted the young man.
Lagat was charged with committing felony.
"The sentence meted out of five years was well within the law. The learned trial magistrate took into consideration that the appellant was a first offender and remorseful. This court will not alter a sentence on the mere ground that it might have passed a somewhat different sentence," Justice Kimondo ruled.
Lagat told the court that the person he offended had already forgiven him but the judge noted that forgiveness was not enough for the charge that he faced. "It matters little that the appellant and complainant have since buried the hatchet," the judge ruled adding that the appeal filed in 2014 did not hold any weight to allow for acquittal.
According to court record, Lagat was at the time of the offence a primary school student. He argued that the custodial jail term would negatively impact on his academic life.
"I pray for forgiveness," Lagat pleaded with the court in a bid to secure a release. It also emerged that he was a first time offender.
Judge Kimondo was of the view that the lower court considered all the prayers by the boy and thus he could not set aside the sentence. "The learned trial Magistrate considered that the appellant was a first offender.
He also took into account the mitigation offered. He sentenced the appellant to five years imprisonment. The plea for mercy before this court must be looked at through those lenses. Section 306 (a) of the Penal Code provides for a sentence of up to seven years. The upshot is that the appeal has no merit and is dismissed," he ruled.
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000207637/seventeen-year-old-sentenced-to-5-years-for-stealing-cooked-meat-and-thermos
That's right: everything.
Our criminal justice system has become a joke. It is an abomination that no big shot has ever gone to jail for any corruption scandal in my memory. (We jail the poor for stealing rice and beef stew while NYS funds theft culprits and Eurobond thieves walk free). That we are not putting them away is a huge national shame. The so called ‘dynamic duo’ as their sheeple call them are to blame for this - but the coalition government of Kibaki and Odinga takes the lion's share for appointing a toothless Keriako Tobiko to the top public prosecutions office.
Let's be real. Ordinary citizens have no control whatsoever over what goes on in our country.
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Small guys everywhere seem to bear the brunt of the justice system. In the US it's the inner city kids being locked up on misdemeanors. On the opposite extreme you have the Stanford rapist and affluenza victim literally walking with rape and murder.
Granted, the system in Kenya has simply made zero good faith attempts to hold the big thieves accountable. That is a crucial difference that would leave Bernie Maddof and Ken Lay unmolested after their exploits were unearthed.
Goldenberg. Anglo-Leasing. Okemo-Gichuru. As long as the culprits remain untouched, I will dismiss offhand any suggestion that things are changing for the better. There are many more. But the three are the flagships of impunity.
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With Okemo’s and Gichuru financial influence, a 10-year extradition process to the Royal Court of Jersey will likely be a function of “ bribery or mordida" which most officials which have anything to do with the effort will surreptitiously participate. They are not going anywhere soon pending the hearing of their appeal at the Kenya High Court.
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Waiguru was never even charged for stealing billions, yet a hungry guy gets five years - whats wrong with this???
All he needed to do is community service..
A minor should be released to parents even better.