Two General Service Unit (GSU) officers arrested in May 2020 while transporting Sh14.9 million bhang in a government vehicle have been jailed for 30 years after an Isiolo court found them guilty of trafficking in the drug.
Shariff Abdullahi Mohammed and Patrick Kinyua Kiungu, a sergeant and a constable attached to Mariara GSU camp, were arrested by a multi-agency security team with the drugs in a Toyota Land Cruiser at Gotu-Merti junction.
Two of the three men who were in a Prado car following the Land Cruiser (in which more drugs were recovered) and whom the authorities said were on police radar at the time, have died.
The five were charged with, among other things, trafficking in narcotics and violating the curfew imposed by the state following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.
Delivering judgment, Chief Magistrate Lucy Mutai said the court considered that the two officers were first offenders but noted that the offence was serious because it remained a major concern to security agencies in the region.
The magistrate said a deterrent sentence was needed to serve as a lesson to other government officials who may harbour such evil thoughts.
Also read: Mackenzie praised dying followers as heroes, branded funerals weddings
The two were fined Sh24 million each and jailed for 30 years with an option of five more years if they were unable to pay the fine.
They were also ordered to pay Sh2,000 each on counts three and four or serve 10 days imprisonment in default.
In mitigation, the officers had claimed they were framed because they had discovered the drugs they were transporting in a government vehicle and had also arrested a suspect named Abdi Maalim when they were intercepted by the multi-agency team.
Abdullahi told the court that he went to Gotu at about 11pm after receiving a tip-off about a consignment of bhang hidden in the bush and when they reached the place, they found two vehicles, which were driven off after spotting the government vehicle.
One of the vehicles, he said, sped off towards Isiolo and the other towards Merti, leaving behind the bhang, which he ordered the driver (Kinyua) to load into his vehicle while he guarded the ‘suspect’.
“I handcuffed the suspect and we drove towards Isiolo, only to be stopped about two kilometres away at gunpoint and ordered out of the vehicle,” he told the court, adding that the suspect ran into the bush.
He further argued that the head of the multi-agency team never appeared in court and only sent his juniors who were part of the witnesses in the matter.
But the court dismissed their testimony as a pack of lies.
They have 14 days to appeal.
