Appeal earns woman life in jail

An appeal against a 20-year jail term went horribly wrong for a woman when the court replaced it with life imprisonment and a Sh1 million fine. 

Lady Justice Hellen Omondi, sitting in Malindi, handed the life sentence to Shahasi Said Hamisi after setting aside an earlier ruling by a lower court. 

In her appeal, Hamisi had argued that there were insufficient grounds to convict and sentence her to 20 years for possessing 229 rolls of bhang with a street value of Sh68,700 in Lamu in 2008. 

Hamisi was arrested on May 26, 2008 in a boat at the Lamu jetty while trying to transport the drugs in a carton to Faza Island, the lower court was told.

Attempted to bribe

The court also heard that Hamisi attempted to bribe police officers with Sh50,000 “to hush up the matter” while her brother, who was also arrested, brought another Sh15,000 to sweeten the offer. 

The prosecution produced five witnesses while Hamisi did not have any but denied the charges. 

In the appeal, Hamisi argued that the prosecution had not adequately proved that she owned the carton containing the drugs even though she tried to conceal it when police officers boarded the boat to conduct a search.

In setting aside the trial magistrate’s sentence, Lady Justice Omondi cited the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act No. 4 of 1994.

“Is the (earlier) sentence legal or too harsh? Section 4(a) states: ‘Any person who traffics in any narcotic drug... shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of Sh1 million or three times the value of the drug... which ever is greater... and in addition imprisonment for life,’” the judge said.

Lady Justice Omondi added: “Under the circumstances, I interfere with the sentence, which was irregular, by setting it aside and substituting it with a sentence of a fine of Sh1 million and in addition, the accused be imprisoned for life”.