• Court allows the nurse to pay Sh200,000 month until he clears Sh3 million fine
• He was convicted of possessing endangered species
Image: FILE
A Nyeri nurse who was convicted of possessing an endangered species has narrowly escaped jail after court allowed him to pay his Sh3 million fine in monthly installments.
John Leiyian Mareipie got convicted by a Maralal principal magistrate for dealing with endangered species.
He was sent to jail for seven years without the option of a fine. The court invoked Wildlife Conservation and Management Act.
He swiftly appealed at the High court which in its November 10, 2022 judgment, gave him a pyrrhic victory, vacating his possession conviction but convicted him on charge of handling the endangered species.
It gave him 5 years in jail. This time, he was given the fine option and asked to pay Sh3 million. He had been in jail for six months.
In order to secure his freedom, the man went back to the court, asking that his punishment be reviewed. He asked that he be freed, and be allowed to pay the fine through a monthly installment until he is done.
He asked the court to take into account the six months he has been behind bars while calculating the actual fine that he should pay.
He argued that he would have to pay Sh75,000 per month for 40 years.
For the six months he was detained, he asked the court to compute the time as the equivalent of Sh450,000, being Sh75,000 for the months.
“That the honourable court be pleased to consider the 6 months period that the Appellant/ Applicant has already served in prison and order the same be substituted with a fine in the following manner: 5 years in prison with emission is equal 40 months, Thus Sh3,000,000 ÷ 40= Sh75,000 per month. 75,000 × 6 = 450,000 for the period the Appellant/Applicant has served sentence,” he said in court papers.
He would then pay the balance of the fine in equal monthly installments of Sh200,000 per month beginning from December 18, 2022, he said.
He said his freedom was a vital necessity to him because he was on the cusp of losing his employment with Nyeri county.
Being a family man and a father, he needed to earn his freedom and keep his job so he sustains his wife and children looking to him.
“That the Appellant/Applicant is a registered nurse and is employed at Nyeri County and he has already served 6 months in jail and is on the verge of losing his employment following his long absence at the place of work.
That the Appellant/Applicant is a family man with a wife and children who solely depend on him as their only source of livelihood.”
The prosecution opposed his appeal.
In determining the case, the court refused to compute the time he has spent in jail into monetary equivalent as it is not supported by any law.
However, he was handed his freedom back, and allowed to pay up the fine in monthly installments, to be due by 5th of every month.
With the Sh5 million bond already executed by the man, the court said that his bail of Sh500,000 deposited in court is considered part of the fine payment.
He will now pay Sh200,000 every month as he enjoys his freedom.
“The sum remaining after deduction of the amount of Sh500,000 deposited in court shall be paid in installments of Sh200,000/- monthly on the 5th of each month.”
Additionally, the matter shall be mentioned on or around the 5th of each month for mention when the installment is due with effect from April 5, 2023.
Default of a single installment shall result in the whole outstanding amount being payable immediately, leading to imprisonment in default of payment, the court said.
The matter will be mentioned on May 12, 2023, before Deputy Registrar and subsequently every 5th of the month until further order of the court.