Three suspects were Thursday arraigned before the Kericho Law Courts, where they pleaded not guilty to 38 counts arising from alleged unlawful burials carried out at the NCCK Makaburini Cemetery in Kericho County.
The three David Araka Makori (Public Health Officer at Nyamira Teaching and Referral Hospital), Richard Towet, alias Ezekiel (Caretaker at NCCK Makaburini Cemetery) and Jason Machora Nyarbi appeared before magistrate Thomas Obutu.
The charges included the burial of deceased persons without a burial permit, making a document without authority, stealing by servant, giving false information to a person employed in the public service, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
It is alleged that on March 20, 2026, at the said cemetery within Kericho East Sub-county, the accused persons jointly coordinated the interment of multiple bodies without valid burial permits.
The accused persons are further alleged to have forged a court order to facilitate the unlawful burials, misappropriated funds entrusted to them in the course of their employment, and provided false information to a judicial officer to procure authorization.
The prosecution is led by David Fedha.
This marks a step forward in the saga that had engulfed the country amid speculations.
Meanwhile, a Kenyan court sentenced a Chinese national to 10 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of committing an indecent act with a 17-year-old child.
The court heard that on December 7, 2025, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, while on board China Southern Airlines Flight, the accused person, Li Jianjun, intentionally touched the private parts of a child aged 17 years with his right hand against her will.
Delivering a judgment, Njeri Thuku, Senior Principal Magistrate at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport court, found that the prosecution proved its case against the accused person beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Li is sentenced to 10 years in prison. The time starts to run from the date of his arrest, and upon completion of his prison term, Li is to be repatriated back to his country by the Immigration Department,” ruled Hon. Thuku.
The minor had traveled from Changsha to Kenya on December 7, 2025, to attend a UN conference, and she was in the middle seat, and Li sat in the aisle seat (55C).
In her testimony, the minor said that at 4:00 a.m., while she was asleep, she felt someone touching her leg outside her clothes.
Then he touched her private parts, opened her trousers’ zip, and put his hand inside.
The accused had traveled to Kenya to repair machinery in a shoe factory and arrived aboard a flight operated by China Southern Airlines on 7th December 2025. He had boarded the flight in the evening from Hunan Chang province after checking in around midnight.
The prosecution through Allen Mulama and Mercy Katsivo presented a photocopy of the victim’s passport, which shows she was born in December 2008, and at the time of the incident, she was 17 years old.
“I have considered Li’s defence as well as the submission. He blamed the tight space of the seats in the plan and said he felt squashed. It was also in his defence that he slept during the flight and denied touching anyone inappropriately,” ruled Thuku.
However, the court believed the testimony of the minor because of her clarity in giving testimony and her demeanour, it also noted the minor was still traumatized by the incident and, despite the fact, was testifying by video link.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
