×
The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and international interest.
  • Standard Group Plc HQ Office,
  • The Standard Group Center,Mombasa Road.
  • P.O Box 30080-00100,Nairobi, Kenya.
  • Telephone number: 0203222111, 0719012111
  • Email: [email protected]

Mombasa man’s Appeal lands him a death sentence

County_Nairobi
 Mbuu Said at the Court of Appeal in Mombasa County. He was sentenced to hang after being found guilty of murdering his father in Law. Photo: Kelvin Karani/Standard

A Mombasa man got the shock of his life when his appeal ended in disaster: a death sentence.

Mbuu Said had been sentenced to 35 years for killing his father-in-law over bride price refund. But his sentence was increased to death following his appeal.

Mbuu appealed the manslaughter charges handed by the High Court in 2013, but which Justice Martha Koome, Justice William Ouko and Justice Kathurima M’inoti declared as illegal.

The judges noted that the murder was committed in the most ghastly manner over a Sh5,000 refund from his father-in-law, which he demanded after storming the deceased’s home at 8pm on April 28, 2010.

“The learned judge did not explain the reason for the 35 years sentence, even after noting that there was no justification for the action Mbuu took... the punishment ought to reflect and attract the seriousness with which the society views such offence. The sentence was illegal and it is our duty to correct it,” said the judges.

Before presiding over the appeal, Mbuu was given five months to reflect on whether he wished to proceed with the case after his attention was drawn to the illegal 35 years imprisonment.

 Mbuu insisted he wanted to proceed, and when the judges gave their verdict on February 17, he broke down and told a prison warder he regretted appealing the case.

He had told the court that he was not present at the scene when the said murder occurred. The Court of Appeal judges however rejected the alibi defence, noting that the appellant went to the in-laws armed with a panga and did not entertain any conversation with his father-in-law.

Mbuu demanded refund of the bride price and struck, slashing the old man’s head, shoulder, neck and forehead, which judges deemed as a manifestation of clear intention to kill.

“The judges noted there was no evidence of a quarrel or provocation. The deceased was cut while seated reading the Bible using a tin lamp and offered no resistance or attempted to fight back. Being deprived temporarily of his wife until he settled in full the outstanding bride was not an act that would amount to provocation,” ruled the judges.

According to court proceedings, Mbuu was expected to pay 14 cows within six months, but had only paid Sh5,000, which was considered to be equivalent to the six months he had lived with the woman. 

Related Topics


.

Popular this week

.

Latest Articles