Kenya Case Law

Shimole v Republic

Shimole v Republic (Criminal Appeal E013 of 2025) [2026] KECA 1641 (KLR) (31 July 2026) (Judgment)

Court

Court of Appeal

Case number

Criminal Appeal E013 of 2025

Judge

["F Tuiyott", "MN Nduma", "M Sila"]

The Court upheld the conviction because PW1 and PW2 were consistent and credible eyewitnesses who placed the appellant at the scene, described him drawing a knife and stabbing the deceased, and no evidence showed any motive to fabricate. The defence that the appellant was attacked was an afterthought, the absence of the murder weapon did not weaken the case because the appellant fled with it, and malice aforethought was proved by the deliberate armed stabbing. The sentence was also upheld because the trial court considered relevant factors, including mitigation, the pre-sentence report and ti…

Source excerpt

• Murder
• Malice aforethought
• First appellate re-evaluation of evidence
• Eyewitness testimony
• Circumstantial and direct evidence
• Identification of deceased at post-mortem

Nderitu v Republic

Court

Court of Appeal

Case number

Criminal Appeal E005 of 2023

Judge

["AK Murgor", "KI Laibuta", "GW Ngenye-Macharia"]

Court of Appeal upheld a murder conviction and 28-year sentence, finding the deceased’s fatal injuries and the last-seen evidence pointed unerringly to the appellant.

• Murder
• Circumstantial evidence
• Last seen doctrine
• Malice aforethought
• Contradictions in witness evidence
• Failure to call witnesses

Baariu Julius Mucheke v Republic

Court

Court of Appeal

Case number

Criminal Appeal 54 of 2020

Judge

["W Karanja", "S ole Kantai", "A Ali-Aroni"]

The Court of Appeal upheld Mucheke’s murder conviction, finding the eyewitness and medical evidence credible, the defence implausible, and no fatal evidentiary gaps.

• Murder
• Malice aforethought
• Identification evidence
• Witness credibility
• Failure to call witnesses
• Failure to produce murder weapon

Republic v Peter Kinyanjui Kamau

Court

High Court

Case number

Criminal Case 53 of 2013

Judge

AM Cockar

The High Court convicted Peter Kinyanjui Kamau of murdering a seven-year-old girl. He was the sole person in a dam with her for about two hours, and a post-mortem found a fatal sharp-force neck wound.

• Murder
• Malice aforethought
• Circumstantial evidence
• Identification of accused
• Contradictions in prosecution evidence
• Failure to produce murder weapon