Boda rider freed, jail terms for two in lorry hijack plot upheld

The High Court in Voi has ordered the release of a boda boda rider, ruling that he was an innocent courier caught in the dragnet.

However, the court upheld 30-year prison sentences for a man and a woman involved in a violent highway robbery.

Justice Asenath Ongeri, delivering her judgment, ruled that while the evidence against the two masterminds was overwhelming, the case against the third appellant (the boda boda rider) lacked the necessary link to the crime.

Rider Leo Wagina Gerald, who had also been sentenced to 30 years in jail, argued that his conviction was unsafe and should be overturned, adding that he was never properly served with the charge sheet.

He described the charge sheet as defective and informal, and said it had incorrectly joined him with two other accused persons.

Justice Ongeri agreed, finding the evidence against the rider to be “tenuous circumstantial evidence”.

“There is a real possibility that he was an innocent person caught up in the events,” the judge ruled, ordering his immediate release.

However, James Mbaya Gikunda and Frinda Muthoni were found guilty of orchestrating an elaborate sham transport deal to steal a Sh3 million lorry from its unsuspecting driver in 2018.

John Kaiba Kinyanjui, the lorry driver, and his assistant were lured from Nairobi to Taveta under the guise of transporting onions.

Kinyanjui was approached by two strangers seeking to hire his truck to transport onions from Loitoktok to Thika.

After receiving a deposit of Sh15,000 and being introduced to a woman identified as Fridah over the phone, Kinyanjui and his turnboy set off on the journey, accompanied by a third partner.

Upon reaching Kasokoni Trading Centre in Taveta, they met Muthoni, whom they overheard directing the accomplices on her mobile phone.

Shortly afterwards, while following Muthoni’s directions, the driver was ordered to stop. Four masked men, armed with metal bars and clubs, emerged from a thicket, beat up Kinyanjui, and tied his hands.

The attackers forced him into the bush, made off with his Sh4,000, mobile phone, driving licence and drove the lorry away. The turnboy escaped by jumping from the vehicle during the ambush.

Gikunda and Muthoni had challenged their 2025 conviction by a Taveta magistrate.

In their appeal, they questioned the reliability of their identification, arguing that the police identification parade was flawed and that crucial witnesses, including the arresting and investigating officers, were not called to testify.

Gikunda specifically claimed the identification parade was unfair due to a lack of legal representation and inconsistent descriptions.

However, Justice Ongeri dismissed these arguments, ruling that the identification evidence was overwhelming and rendered a formal parade unnecessary.

“The journey from Nairobi to Kasokoni provided ample opportunity for observation. This was not a fleeting glance,” the judge stated.

Addressing the 30-year sentence for Gikunda and Muthoni, which was a reduction from the mandatory death penalty, Justice Ongeri deemed it proportionate to the premeditated and violent nature of the crime.

“The complainant was beaten mercilessly, and his turnboy was forced to jump out of the moving lorry. A sentence of 30 years for such a serious, premeditated and violent robbery cannot be said to be so harsh or excessive as to warrant interference by this court.”