'Lucky' police officer fined Sh20,000 for ivory trafficking

What you need to know:

Osman Daud Dirie, a Constable who was attached to Limuru Police Station, was arrested in July 2013 with three others ferrying 12 pieces of ivory.

A police officer has been fined Sh20,000 or serve four years in jail for possessing ivory illegally.

Osman Daud Dirie, a constable who was attached to Limuru Police Station, was arrested in July 2013 with three others ferrying 12 pieces of ivory.

He luckily escaped a Sh50 million fine or life imprisonment because he committed the crime before the new law took effect.

The others were Mr Hussein Jilo, an Isiolo County ranger who was based at the Ngariama gate, Mr Idris Ali and Mr Muktaar Hussein, who were acquitted due to insufficient evidence linking them to the crime.

The three had told the court during the hearing that they were given a lift by Mr Dirie on their way from Kulamawe in Isiolo to Meru.

Maua Resident Magistrate Oscar Wanyaga said the two were acquitted after it was clear they were given a lift.

“When you are given a lift by someone, you don’t go searching the vehicle,” said Mr Wanyaga.

SH50M FINE

Mr Dirie told the court the vehicle, a Toyota Probox, belonged to his friend, who had given it to him to travel to Isiolo.

However, the court found there was no way a friend could have given out the vehicle from Nairobi with the ivory.

Mr Dirie also urged the court to order Maua police to release "his vehicle", saying it is need to take his child to school.

The court saw this as a proof the vehicle belonged to him as opposed to the earlier statement that he had borrowed it from a friend, and that he knew about the ivory that were hidden there.

However, Mr Wanyaga told him he was lucky that the current stringent measures used against such cases were not in place when his case was commencing.

He was therefore ordered to pay Sh20,000 fine or be imprisoned for four years.

Currently such offences attract a life sentence or a fine of Sh50 million.