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The High Court at Kerugoya held that the prosecution had not established a prima facie case in a murder charge, and acquitted the accused at case-to-answer stage.
No-case-to-answer ruling in a murder charge: the High Court found the circumstantial evidence too weak to link Cecilia Maitha Nyaga to the killing.
Republic v Mulongo alias Longo (Criminal Case E010 of 2024) [2026] KEHC 13190 (KLR) (31 August 2026) (Judgment)
The High Court at Bungoma convicted Joseph Mulongo alias Longo of murder after finding that PW1 recognised him attacking the deceased with a panga and forensic evidence matched the deceased's blood.
Republic v Otieno alias Otis (Criminal Case 61 of 2023) [2026] KEHC 13131 (KLR) (25 August 2026) (Judgment)
The court found that the deceased died after a confrontation in which the accused participated and struck him, but the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused acted with malice aforethought. The spontaneous drunken nature of the confrontation, the absence of a recovered weapon, and the evidence of substantial intoxication left reasonable doubt on the mental element for murder. The proper conviction was therefore manslaughter as a lesser cognate offence.
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Republic v Kibunja & 3 others (Criminal Case E002 of 2022) [2026] KEHC 13050 (KLR) (20 August 2026) (Judgment)
The court held that the prosecution proved murder beyond reasonable doubt only against the 1st accused. The deceased’s death and its unlawful cause were established by eyewitness and medical evidence, and the 1st accused’s recent possession of the deceased’s phone, SIM card and voter’s card, together with his conduct in using the phone to solicit money, completed an incriminating circumstantial chain. By contrast, the case against the 2nd, 3rd and 4th accused rested on uncorroborated allegations by the 1st accused and suspicion only; no independent evidence, forensic material, or recorded con…
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The High Court acquitted Derrick Mayabi Makutsa alias Dero of murder, finding the deceased’s death proved but the circumstantial case too weak to fix him with the killing.
Republic v Gathugu alias Macha (Criminal Case E082 of 2022) [2026] KEHC 13062 (KLR) (17 August 2026) (Judgment)
The court found that the accused was proved to have participated in an unlawful assault on the deceased together with Kamnyo, but the prosecution did not prove malice aforethought. The injuries, the postmortem findings, the drinking context, and the revenge-driven confrontation supported manslaughter, not murder. The date discrepancy in the information did not prejudice the accused or render the trial unfair, because he understood the case and mounted a defence.
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Republic v Amadi (Criminal Case 019 of 2024) [2026] KEHC 12711 (KLR) (6 August 2026) (Judgment)
The court accepted that the deceased died from severe head injury caused by blunt force trauma and found that the accused unlawfully caused that death by striking the deceased with a pool cue stick, corroborated by PW1 and PW2. However, the court was left in reasonable doubt on malice aforethought because the act occurred in a sudden drunken bar-room fracas, involved a single spontaneous blow, and showed no premeditation or sustained attack. The proper conviction was therefore manslaughter, not murder.
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State v Abila alias Owuor & 3 others (Criminal Appeal E004 of 2022) [2026] KEHC 12696 (KLR) (6 August 2026) (Judgment)
The court found that the deceased died from sharp-force trauma causing tension haemothorax, that the death was the result of an unlawful and brutal group assault, and that the 1st, 2nd and 4th accused directly participated in the attack and shared common intention. The 3rd accused was not proved to have assaulted the deceased or shared common intention; she merely recorded the incident and preserved evidence. Malice aforethought was inferred from the repeated stabbing with dangerous weapons and the targeting of vital body parts.
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Republic v Osumo & another (Criminal Case E027 of 2024) [2026] KEHC 12624 (KLR) (6 August 2026) (Judgment)
The prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Dominic Wasonga died from a violent assault by sharp and blunt weapons, that the accused persons were recognized by eyewitnesses and placed at the scene as joint assailants, and that the brutality and targeting of vital body parts established malice aforethought. The alibi defences were rejected because credible prosecution evidence fixed both accused at the scene and in the assault.
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