A Kakamega woman has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after she was convicted of trafficking five kilogrammes of cannabis sativa, commonly known as bhang, valued at about Sh16,600.
Alternatively, the court ordered her to pay a fine of Sh50 million.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the woman was found guilty of trafficking narcotic drugs following a case arising from a police raid at her rented house in Kakamega.
According to the DPP, the incident occurred on June 12, 2019, when police officers, acting on information from members of the public, raided the house in the Murram area of Kakamega Central Sub-County.
“A search of the house led to the recovery of 22 brooms containing 5 kilograms of bhang,” the DPP said in a statement.
The recovered narcotics were valued at approximately Sh16,600, according to the prosecution.
The woman was subsequently arrested and charged under Section 4(a) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act, No. 4 of 1994.
The DPP said its prosecution team presented evidence that linked the accused to the narcotic drugs and proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
After considering the evidence presented during the trial, the court found the woman guilty of trafficking narcotic drugs.
The court then sentenced her to 50 years in prison or, in the alternative, ordered her to pay a fine of Sh50 million.
The ruling comes months after the Nyandarua High Court upheld a 10-year prison sentence against a man convicted of trafficking 650 grammes of bhang.
Alex Opati Chapia was arrested in February 2025 after police recovered 75 rolls of bhang, valued at about Sh4,000, from a house in Magumu, South Kinangop.
Chapia challenged his conviction and sentence, arguing that the charge was defective, the prosecution had failed to produce key evidence, including an inventory and weighing certificate, and that he was merely a visitor at the house where the drugs were recovered.
Justice Kiarie Waweru dismissed the appeal, finding that the evidence proved the trafficking charge beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge cited the law's broad definition of trafficking, which include, “ the importation, exportation, manufacture, buying, sale, giving, supplying, storing, administering, conveyance, delivery or distribution by any person of a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance.”
The court also rejected Chapia's claim that he was a visitor, describing his defence as hollow.
On sentencing, Justice Waweru noted that the law provided for a fine and imprisonment for life for the offence but declined to interfere with the 10-year sentence imposed by the trial court, finding that Chapia had not demonstrated that the magistrate had applied a wrong principle or overlooked a material factor.
Under Kenyan law, trafficking in narcotic drugs attracts severe penalties, including hefty fines and lengthy prison terms, depending on the quantity and circumstances of the offence.
