JOHN STELEN OLE MWENDA V. REPUBLIC
(1989) JELR 104741 (CA)
Court of Appeal
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Criminal Appeal 51 of 1988
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4 Nov 1989
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Kenya
Coram
Johnson Evan Gicheru, Richard Otieno Kwach, Joseph Raymond Otieno Masime
Judgement
<p class="ql-align-center">JUDGMENT</p><p class="ql-align-justify">John Stellen Ole Mwenda (hereinafter referred to as the appellant) and three other persons were charged jointly with the offence of robbery c/s 296(2) of the Penal Code. They were alleged to have robbed the driver of a bus and his passengers on the night of October 24, 1984, at the Elementaita junction on the Nakuru-Nairobi road. They had denied the charges but were after a trial in which the prosecution called fourteen witnesses convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment. This appellant’s appeal to the High Court against the conviction and sentence was dismissed hence his appeal to this court.</p><p class="ql-align-justify">The appellant, who was not represented before us, has put forward eight grounds of appeal but the main issue raised therein is that of his identification as one of the robbers. The appellant had raised this issue throughout the trial and his appeal to the superior court. The trial court said of it:</p><p class="ql-align-justify">“The accused 1 had repeatedly, during crossexamination of prosecution witnesses who c…</p>