Ohaga was with his brother in the house that night.
The gang forced them to load the loot on his car and drive them to their destination.
Image: FILE
Rodgers Mwangale led his gang armed with crude weapons into the house of George Ohaga in the dead of the night and stole valuables.
He was arrested when he tried to sell the items. The raid took place on October 30, 1999.
The case has dragged in the corridors of justice for over two decades until a three-judge bench of the Court of Appeal finally buttoned it up on March 22.
Court papers say Mwangale and his gang robbed Ohaga of his mattress, one water pump, two blankets, one bed sheet, a computer screen and four gas cylinders, all valued at Sh138,000.
Ohaga was with his brother in the house that night. The gang forced them to load the loot on his car and drive them to their destination.
Because of darkness he was not able to identify the assailants.
Police trailed and arrested Mwangale. He was charging with robbery with violence and handling stolen property. He was convicted and sentenced to death on January 22, 2003. His co-accused were acquitted.
He challenged the decision and sentence at the Court of Appeal.
The court dismissed his appeal, finding that the prosecution’s case was watertight.
“From the evidence on record, we are satisfied that two elements of robbery with violence were proved beyond any reasonable doubt. The appellant was in the company of other people when they entered the complainant’s house to rob them. They were armed with pangas and rungus. They also threatened to use violence on the complainant and PW2 in the event they raised alarm or refused to cooperate with them. In the circumstances, we find that the prosecution’s case against the appellant was overwhelmingly credible.”
However, they agreed that the death sentence was untenable, giving the robber 30 years instead, taking into account the four years he had spent in pre-trial incarceration.
“In the light of the current jurisprudence on sentencing, and after giving due consideration to the circumstances in which the offence was committed, and the fact that the appellant was in custody for four years before his conviction, we are persuaded that the appropriate sentence in the circumstances is 30 years’ imprisonment,” the judges ruled.