JOSEPH KARANJA MBUGUA V. REPUBLIC

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

JOSEPH KARANJA MBUGUA ( “the appellant”) comes before us on the second and last appeal against his conviction by Kiambu Senior Resident Magistrate on one count of robbery with violence contrary to section 296(2) of the Penal Code and one count of being in possession of a firearm contrary to section 4(2) (c) of the Firearms Act. Upon his conviction he was sentenced to death on count 1, and to imprisonment for 6 years on count 2. His first appeal to the superior court was dismissed on 9^th December 2004 and the sentences were confirmed. We may state in passing that the two courts below erred in imposing a sentence of imprisonment on the second count after sentencing the appellant to death on the first count. As we have stated ad nauseum, it makes no sense to hang a person and then imprison him subsequently. Once there is a sentence of death on the capital charge the other counts are left in abeyance. The line of authorities in this respect include, amongst others, Mu…