Court convicts police officer and his two wives for stealing gun

Friday, January 27, 2023

A police officer and his two wives were on Thursday found guilty of stealing a gun.

Maralal Principal Magistrate James Wanyanga ruled that constable Peter Mutembei and his two wives – Joan Kanana and Alice Wanjiru were guilty of stealing the gun belonging to another police officer in June 2022.

According to witness statements, the three jointly broke and entered into a house belonging to police constable Lawrence Lekenit and stole one AK-47 loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition on June 4.

They were arrested by detectives from Maralal town and the gun was recovered.

The trio was arraigned in court, where they denied the charges and were each released on Sh150,000 bonds.

“The firearm was the property of the Kenya Police Service and was issued to Police Constable Lawrence Lekenit for official duties,” Nation.Africa quotes the prosecution to have told the Maralal court on June 9, pointing out that the firearm was valued at Sh103,000.

Wanyanga on Thursday dismissed a burglary charge on Mutembei and his two wives because “the prosecution side failed to prove burglary case.”

The Magistrate however said other charges of theft, conspiracy to steal and handling stolen property were proved in court.

He also noted that evidence presented before court showed that Mr Mutembei allocated himself duties and was later seen with the stolen gun.

“There is higher possibility that the gun was used for criminal activities. Because at that period, there was reports of crime around Maralal; Moi girls school to be specific,” Wanyanga said.

“In my finding, the offense of burglary is hereby dismissed. But other offenses of stealing and conspiracy are proved. The suspects are convicted.”