Four men convicted in a robbery with violence case linked to the 2015 killing of former Kabete MP George Muchai have been sentenced to death by a Nairobi court.
Chief Magistrate Lukas Onyina sentenced Eric Muyera Isambwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni alias Musto, Stephen Astiva Lipopo alias Chokore, Jane Wanjiru Kamau alias Shiro and Margaret Njeri Wachiuri over a string of violent robberies connected to the case.
The court sentenced Eric Muyera Isambwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni alias Musto and Stephen Astiva Lipopo alias Chokore to death after finding them guilty on multiple counts of robbery with violence.
The six were among the accused persons charged in connection with a series of robberies, including the attack linked to the killing of Muchai.
In an earlier judgment, the court found that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and sufficiently linked several of the accused persons to the robberies.
The magistrate held that the testimony of victims and other prosecution evidence consistently placed the attackers at the scene and supported the State’s case.
According to the court, the 1st accused person was identified as the man carrying a large firearm during the robbery incidents.
The magistrate held that witnesses consistently testified that the attackers were four men previously unknown to the victims and that their accounts remained consistent across the separate robbery incidents.
The court also convicted some of the accused persons on additional counts arising from related robbery incidents tied to the same criminal enterprise.
However, one of the accused persons was acquitted after the court found that the evidence against him was insufficient.
In the judgment, the magistrate said the 7th accused had effectively exonerated himself through his own defence and that the prosecution had failed to place him at the scene of the crimes.
The court also observed that witnesses had not reported seeing any woman among the robbers during the attacks.
Following the convictions, the matter proceeded to sentencing, where the court considered mitigation by the convicts, submissions by defence lawyers and the prosecution, as well as pre-sentence reports filed for each of them.
The magistrate said issues touching on the merits of the conviction could not be reopened at the mitigation stage, ruling that the sentencing court does not sit on review of its own judgment.
A key issue raised during sentencing was whether the death sentence remains lawful for the offence of robbery with violence under Section 296(2) of the Penal Code.
In addressing the issue, the court said it had considered recent superior court decisions interpreting the Supreme Court’s Muruatetu ruling and its later clarification.
The magistrate ruled that appellate courts have since made it clear that the decision declaring the mandatory death sentence unconstitutional in murder cases did not automatically apply to other offences such as robbery with violence.
The court further said it was bound by a recent Court of Appeal decision delivered on March 25, 2026, which reaffirmed that the death penalty remains a lawful sentence for robbery with violence where the law expressly provides for it.
The magistrate also said that all the convicts had remained in custody throughout the trial and stated that under Section 333(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the period spent in custody must be taken into account in sentencing where applicable.
The court further said that all the convicts would be treated as first offenders after finding that the prosecution had not sufficiently proved any previous convictions against them.
In considering sentence, the court said it had taken into account the ages and personal circumstances of the convicts, but observed that the offences were extremely serious and were committed with “utmost impunity.”
According to the court, the victims identified as PW1, PW3 and PW4 were abducted in the course of the robberies committed on the material night.
The first victim was carjacked and robbed of his vehicle, which the gang then used to gain access to another set of victims before abducting, robbing and later abandoning them.
The court said the robberies were carried out while the attackers were armed with a rifle that had earlier been stolen from a police officer.
Although some of the convicts pleaded for leniency and expressed remorse, the court held that the gravity of the offences and the need to do justice to the victims called for the sentence provided under the law.
The court then sentenced Eric Muyera Isambwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni alias Musto and Stephen Astiva Lipopo alias Chokore to death on counts 1, 2 and 3.
However, the magistrate directed that the sentences on counts 2 and 3 would remain in abeyance because the sentence on the first count was sufficient in law.
On counts 4 and 5, which related only to Eric Muyera Isambwa alias Chairman and Margaret Njeri Wachiuri, the court sentenced each of them to 10 years imprisonment effective from the date of first committal to remand custody.
On counts 6 and 7, which related only to Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, the court sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment from the date of first committal to remand custody.
On count 8, Jane Wanjiru Kamau alias Shiro was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment effective from the date of first committal to remand custody.
The court directed that the terms imposed under counts 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 would run concurrently for the respective convicts.
For Eric Muyera Isambwa alias Chairman, the sentences on counts 4 and 5, and for Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, the sentences on counts 6 and 7, were also ordered to remain in abeyance because of the death sentences already imposed on the robbery counts.
The court further ordered that the firearms and ammunition produced as exhibits during the trial be forfeited to the State, but said the forfeiture would only take effect after the conclusion of a separate murder trial still pending before the High Court against the 1st to 4th accused persons.
The magistrate told the convicts that any party dissatisfied with the conviction or sentence has a right of appeal within 14 days.
The court also directed that typed proceedings be supplied to the convicts or their lawyers upon formal request through the registry.
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