How free ride earned woman three years in jail

Judge Weldon Korir at the Milimani High Court. [File/Standard]

The Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction of a woman from Lodwar who was found guilty of unlawfully possessing six firearms and ammunition.

The three judges—Weldon Korir, John Mativo, and Paul Gachoka—quashed Rebecca Asinyon's sentence, stating that the two lower courts did not give sufficient weight to her defence.

Asinyon, along with two others, was charged at the Lodwar Law Court with possession of firearms and 30 rounds of 7.62 ammunition without proper certificates on May 1, 2018, along the Lodwar-Kakuma road.

The judges noted that in a criminal trial, it is crucial to balance all evidence pointing to the appellant's guilt against evidence that indicates her innocence.

They commented, “Considering the evidence in its totality, we are satisfied that the appellant’s defense was credible.”

In her defense, Asinyon testified that she boarded a motorcycle from Kakuma to Nasiger market.

On her return trip, she got a lift in a Toyota Land Cruiser with the license plate GKB 345M, which had two occupants.

While they were near the China City Construction Company site, police officers stopped the vehicle and ordered everyone to exit.

The officers allegedly searched the vehicle and found no firearms.

However, Asinyon was taken into a police car, which had six individuals inside.

She maintained that the only person carrying a firearm was the NPR officer. Later, she signed an inventory at the police station without knowing its contents.

A police officer testified that he had set up a roadblock after receiving a tip-off about a vehicle carrying firearms.

During the search of the three occupants, six AK-47 rifles loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition were allegedly recovered, hidden in a gunny sack.

Asinyon was convicted, and her appeal was initially dismissed in the High Court, prompting her to appeal again to the Court of Appeal.

The judges noted that Asinyon requested a lift and that there were already other occupants in the vehicle when she boarded.

“There is nothing to suggest that she boarded the vehicle at the beginning of the journey.

Conversely, evidence shows that when she boarded, the vehicle already had other passengers,” the court stated.

The court further pointed out that there was no evidence indicating that she had any luggage when she entered the vehicle.

“In fact, the available evidence shows that she only had her handbag. Additionally, no evidence was presented to suggest that the other occupants in the vehicle were known to her before this incident. It was also mentioned that the inventory was prepared the next day at the police station,” the court concluded.