ZABLON OMBATI ONGERI V. ATTORNEY GENERAL

JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

This appeal is an offshoot of the proceedings and judgment of the High Court in NAKURU H.C. CR. No. 67 of 2007, wherein ZABLON OMBATI ONGERI (hereinafter ‘ the appellant’) was charged with the offence of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code. During the course of the trial he complained to the trial court that his fundamental rights and freedoms set out under Section 72 (3), 72 (6) and 84 (1) of the repealed Constitution had been violated during his arrest, incarceration and subsequent arraignment in court.

The specific complaints raised by the appellant were: - of torture at the D.C.I.O.’s office at Molo, following his arrest on 7^th July, 2007; and delayed arraignment in court, in that he took plea on 31^st July, 2007.The trial court directed the appellant’s counsel to reduce the same into a constitutional reference with a view to obtaining redress separately. Contemporaneously, the trial court ordered that the trial proceeds to …