On 18 March 2005 Christine Maseno Thuluya and Victoria Benard Robi were jointly charged with trafficking 136 kilograms of cannabis sativa with a street value of Kshs 272,000, found while transporting it in motor vehicle registration number KAQ 417T along the Nakuru-Nairobi road within Nakuru district.[1] Both pleaded guilty before the Chief Magistrate at Nakuru in Criminal Case No. 774 of 2005, admitted the facts as read, and were convicted on their own pleas.[1] In mitigation the first appellant said only one bale was hers, while the second said she had paid the driver Kshs 10,000 to transport the drugs to raise money for a sick child’s hospital bills.[1] The trial court sentenced each to eight years’ imprisonment.[1]
On appeal they argued the cannabis was never produced as an exhibit and no expert report confirmed it, that the guilty pleas were equivocal, and that the charges were not explained in a language they understood.[1] The High Court held no analyst report was needed after an admission, pointed to a co-accused’s analyst report confirming the substance, and found the original file showed the charge was read in English and interpreted into Swahili by court clerk Mr Kihara.[1]
Appeals dismissed
The court found the mitigation statements showed both appellants clearly understood the charge and rejected all three grounds.[1] It held eight years was not excessive for trafficking a huge amount of cannabis for sale, where the maximum was life imprisonment, and declined to interfere with the trial court’s discretion.[1] The appeals failed in their entirety, and the convictions and eight-year sentences stood.[1]