Court Overturns Two-Year Prison Sentence Handed to Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika's Sister

The High Court has quashed the conviction of Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika’s sister who had been sentenced to two years in prison.

Peris Njoki was sentenced after she was found guilty of assaulting her sister Caroline Kihika following a disagreement over the property left behind by their late father Kihika Kimani.

Her sentencing was reversed by High Court Justice Rachael Ng’etich who faulted the lower court’s decision, terming it not objective. Justice Ng’etich noted that there was no sufficient evidence to prove the assault charges against Njoki.

“The prosecution’s evidence was not enough to prove that the appellant (Peris) indeed assaulted her sister. Prosecution witnesses admitted that they found the appellant fighting with her sister and even attempted to separate them. Nobody saw the alleged assault. The burden of proof was shifted to the appellant, who must be presumed innocent unless proven guilty,” read the ruling in part as reported by Saturday Nation.

Njoki, who is the daughter of Kihika’s third wife, was handed a two-year jail sentence in 2015 for assaulting her half-sister Caroline Wanjiku. 

She appealed the sentence in 2016, accusing the presiding magistrate of being unjust and biased. The court freed her on a bond pending hearing and determination of the appeal.

“The appellant and the complainant have been having an ongoing issue between them due to land disputes and other pending cases. It is clear that the complainant and his brother do not want the appellant to inherit any part of the land parcel and that is why they are making false charges against her,” she said through her attorney David Mong’eri.

Members of the Kihika family have been embroiled in a bitter tussle for the multi-million-shilling estate left by Kihika, who passed on in 2004.

In October last year, Kihika’s children opted to settle the property dispute in court after failing to strike an out-of-court agreement. Kihika left behind eight widows and 41 children.