A
mine worker who had been jailed for 25 years for killing his supervisor by
running over him with an excavator after a work squabble has been freed for
lack of sufficient evidence.
Court
papers show that David Chege had conflict with his boss Lawrence Ogoro at their
Garissa gypsum mining site, leading to the mysterious disappearance and death
of Ogoro in 2014.
Issues
around the case show that there was an excavator that was broken down and some
400 litres of diesel that had gone missing and the two were reportedly
involved.
One
day, the two left the site to go get another excavator from a nearby site to
continue with the work but only Chege came back with the heavy machine.
That
was the last time the supervisor was seen. His tattered clothes, body parts
like broken ribs, hair, nails and small parts of the leg would be fetched at a
nearby field and were taken to the local mortuary.
His
wallet with an ID card and bus ticket was also found.
The
local police ordered that Chege be arrested because he was the last person with
the deceased and that he knew to operate the machine, hence he could have known
the fate of his superior.
Days
later as investigation picked pace, other parts of the body of the man would be
found at a nearby thicket covered with fresh soil.
Chege
was tried for murder and convicted at the High court and sentenced to 25 years
in February 2022.
But
on October 3, the Court of Appeal overturned that conviction and ordered his
immediate release, saying the evidence used to jail him was insufficient and
largely circumstantial.
The
appeal, heard before Justices Patrick Kiage, Gatembu Kairu and Grace Ngenye,
concluded that the prosecution failed to meet the legal threshold required to sustain
a murder conviction.
The
court found that although the circumstances surrounding Ogoro’s death were
suspicious and Chege’s actions raised questions, there was no direct evidence
proving he was responsible for the killing.
Key
evidence presented in the trial was either based on inference or statements
from people who were not present at the time of the alleged incident.
The
judges also questioned the custody of the physical exhibits and said the trial
court made a mistake in relying on hearsay and assumptions.
“There
were gaps in the evidence that should have benefited the accused,” the judges
ruled, adding that the burden of proof in criminal cases must always remain
with the prosecution and be beyond reasonable doubt.
“In the premises, we agree [...]
that this appeal is merited. Having re-evaluated the evidence adduced, we come
to the inescapable conclusion that the prosecution failed to prove that the
death of the deceased was caused by the appellant. That being the case, we find
merit in the appeal, set aside the conviction of the appellant in Garissa High
Court Criminal Case No. 15 of 2014 and quash the sentence imposed upon him,”
the judges ordered.
Chege,
who had maintained his innocence throughout, will now walk free after spending
over three years in custody since his sentencing.
Instant analysis
Legal
experts say the case highlights the importance of thorough investigations and
the need for courts to rely only on solid, admissible evidence when determining
guilt in serious criminal cases. The Office of the Director of Public
Prosecutions has not yet indicated whether it will appeal the decision or seek
a review.
