JAMES MAINA KARERO; MICHAEL MURIGI MURATHI & WILFRED KAMAU KIMANI V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

James Maina Karero, Michael Murigi Marathi and Wilfred Kamau Kimani, hereinafter called James, Michael and Wilfred respectively, were tried and convicted on one charge of robbery with violence contrary to section 296(2) of the Penal Code, and upon their conviction by the then Senior Principal Magistrate at Muranga, each of them was sentenced to death as is mandatorily prescribed by law. They then appealed to the High Court but by that court’s judgment dated and delivered on 13th April, 2003, their appeals were dismissed. They now appeal a second time to this Court and that being so, only matters of law fall for our consideration.

The particulars of the charge on which the appellants were convicted were that on the night of 8th/9th June, 1999, at Kongoini village within Muranga District of the Central Province, the three appellants jointly with others not before the Court, and while armed with dangerous weapons, namely a panga, arrows, axes and rungus, robbed Peter …