The Court of Appeal in Nairobi has dismissed an appeal filed by former Eastleigh North Senior Chief, Paul Kuria Ngugi, upholding his conviction and sentence for soliciting and receiving a bribe from a resident seeking citizenship documents for her relatives.
A three-judge bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Weldon Korir, and Joel Ngugi ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the former administrator demanded and received money from complainant Rhoda Mohamud in October 2014 as an inducement to facilitate introduction letters for her cousins to be registered as Kenyan citizens .
Ngugi had been convicted by the Anti-Corruption Court on two counts of solicitation and receipt of a bribe under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. He was fined KSh150,000 and KSh100,000 respectively, with default sentences of one year each. The High Court later upheld the conviction, prompting him to appeal to the Court of Appeal.
In his defence, Ngugi claimed entrapment by officers of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), alleging that the complainant had planted the marked money on his office table and that local politics motivated his arrest. However, the appellate judges dismissed this argument, finding that the EACC merely provided an opportunity for the chief to commit an offence he was already predisposed to commit.
“The appellant had already demanded a bribe and negotiated the amount before the trap was set. The investigators only confirmed his corrupt intent,” the court ruled .
The judges further held that the video and audio recordings, the recovery of treated money, and forensic tests showing APQ powder on the appellant’s hands were credible and consistent pieces of evidence that corroborated the complainant’s account.
They noted that the trial court had rightfully acquitted Ngugi on the first count after his alibi was supported by his superior but maintained that the acquittal on that count did not invalidate the subsequent charges.
“We are satisfied that both the conviction and sentence were based on cogent evidence properly analyzed by the trial court and affirmed on first appeal,” the judges stated, adding that the fines imposed were lenient relative to the statutory maximum.
The Court of Appeal therefore dismissed the appeal in its entirety, affirming both conviction and sentence against the former chief
