Court upholds jail sentence handed to county officials

 Hopes by five former Homa Bay County Assembly officials to spend their Christmas and New Year festivities with their relatives have dashed after the High Court yesterday upheld their six-year jail term over theft of Sh27 million.

In her judgment, Justice Esther Maina said the appeal challenging the conviction and sentencing of the five lacked merit and dismissed it.

Justice Maina said that the trial court addressed itself to the facts and law properly while finding them guilty of embezzlement of public funds.

“The court has perused the proceedings and evaluated them afresh but finds no merit in it. The conviction and sentence is therefore upheld,” she said.

The five were found guilty for embezzling Sh27.8 million in a Homa Bay Anti-Corruption Court by Senior Principal Magistrate Thomas Obutu.

They were each fined a total of Sh59.04 million or serve six years in prison. Being dissatisfied by the trial court’s decision, the five lodged an appeal at the High Court in Nairobi arguing that the trial court did not consider his defence and that the judgment was thus illegal.