[2021] KEHC 2268 (KLR)
The court held that the Supreme Court's clarification in the 2021 Muruatetu decision restricts the application of its 2017 ruling to mandatory death sentences for murder under section 204 of the Penal Code. Since the petitioner was convicted of robbery with violence under section 296(2), the Muruatetu jurisprudence...
Source-derived case information.
- Citation
- [2021] KEHC 2268 (KLR)
- Parties
- Petitioner: Gregory Ouma Oyota; Respondent: Republic
- Court
- High Court
- Court Station
- High Court at Kakamega
- Jurisdiction
- Kenya
- Case Number
- Criminal Petition 3 of 2020
- Procedural Posture
- Criminal Petition / Ruling on Jurisdiction and Competence of Petition
- Outcome
- petition struck out for want of jurisdiction
- Judges
- DN Musyoka
- Legal Topics
- Mandatory Sentencing, Robbery With Violence, Jurisdiction of High Court
- Source Language
- en
Source-derived case record
Summary, issues, holding and outcome
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Parties
Gregory Ouma Oyota
Petitioner
Republic
Respondent
Procedural Posture
Criminal Petition / Ruling on Jurisdiction and Competence of Petition
Legal Issues
- 1 Does the Supreme Court decision in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic [2017] eKLR apply to mandatory sentences for robbery with violence under section 296(2) of the Penal Code?
- 2 Does the High Court have jurisdiction to review the petitioner.s sentence for robbery with violence based on the Muruatetu decision?
Ratio Decidendi
The court held that the Supreme Court's clarification in the 2021 Muruatetu decision restricts the application of its 2017 ruling to mandatory death sentences for murder under section 204 of the Penal Code. Since the petitioner was convicted of robbery with violence under section 296(2), the Muruatetu jurisprudence does not apply. Consequently, the High Court has no jurisdiction to review or alter the sentence imposed on the petitioner for robbery with violence based on the Muruatetu decision. The petition is therefore incompetent and must be struck out for want of jurisdiction.
Court Disposition
petition struck out for want of jurisdiction
Orders
- The petition is struck out as incompetent.
- The file shall be closed.
Full Case Text
Judgment text and source record
14 paragraphs
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT KAKAMEGA
CRIMINAL PETITION NO. 3 OF 2020
GREGORY OUMA OYOTA.....................PETITIONER
VERSUS
REPUBLIC................................................RESPONDENT
RULING
1. This matter was placed before me for the purpose of giving directions, in view of the recent decision by the Supreme Court in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic; Katiba Institute & 5 others(Amicus Curiae[2021] (Koome CJ&P, Mwilu DCJ&VP, Ibrahim, Wanjala, Ndung’u & Lenaola SSJJ), with respect to mandatory sentences, where it was clarified that the decision, in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic[2017] eKLR (Maraga CJ&P, Mwilu DCJ&VP, Ojwang, Wanjala, Njoki and Lenaola SCJJ), had arisen from proceedings relating to murder, under section 204 of the Penal Code, Cap 63, Laws of Kenya, and the position stated in the said decision was intended to apply only to mandatory sentences with respect to murder cases.
2. The petition herein, undated , but filed herein on 28th September 2020, principally rides on the decision, in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic[2017] eKLR (Maraga CJ&P, Mwilu DCJ&VP, Ojwang, Wanjala, Njoki and Lenaola SCJJ), for the petitioner seeks review of his sentence, where he had been convicted of robbery with violence, under section 296(2) of the Penal Code, in Kakamega CMCCRC No. 2447 of 2004, and was sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment by the President of the Republic of Kenya. He filed appeal in Kakamega HCCRA No. 138 of 2010 and Kisumu CACRA No. 45 of 2014, where the appellate courts affirmed the conviction in Kakamega CMCCRC No. 2447 of 2004.
3. The offence, the subject of the instant proceedings, is not murder, but robbery with violence, as defined in section 296(2) of the Penal Code, the decision in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic[2017] eKLR (Maraga CJ&P, Mwilu DCJ&VP, Ojwang, Wanjala, Njoki and Lenaola SCJJ), therefore, does not apply to it. As a consequence, the High Court has no jurisdiction to review the sentence that was imposed by the trial court, based on the decision in Francis Karioko Muruatetu & another vs. Republic; Katiba Institute & 5 others(Amicus Curiae[2021] (Koome CJ&P, Mwilu DCJ&VP, Ibrahim, Wanjala, Ndung’u & Lenaola SSJJ). Since there is no jurisdiction on my part to entertain the petition, I shall strike it out, for it is incompetent. The said file shall be closed.
4. The Deputy Registrar shall cause copies of this ruling to be availed to the petitioner and the office of Director of Public Prosecutions, Kakamega.
DATED AND SIGNED AT KAKAMEGA THIS 12TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2021
W MUSYOKA
JUDGE