Life in Prison or Freedom? Legal Battle Continues for 25 Ex-KDF Personnel

Uncertainty hangs over the fate of 25 former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers after the Court of Appeal in Mombasa overturned their previous acquittal on desertion charges.

This decision comes after a lengthy legal battle that has seen the soldiers challenge a court-martial ruling sentencing them to life imprisonment and a subsequent High Court decision that found them innocent. The Court of Appeal's intervention results from an appeal filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The prosecution argued that the initial High Court verdict, which acquitted all 25 soldiers in a single judgment, failed to adequately consider the findings and conclusions presented by the court-martial for each individual case.

This lack of granular review, according to the prosecution, rendered the acquittal inconclusive. The legal saga began when the soldiers were accused of abandoning their posts to work for private security firms in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Facing charges before three military courts at the Mtongwe naval base, they were ultimately convicted by the Court Martial and sentenced to life in prison.

Unwilling to accept this outcome, the soldiers appealed to the High Court. Their defence centred on the legality of their charges. They argued that since they had left the military in 2007 and 2008, they should have been tried under the Kenya Armed Forces Act, a law predating the Kenya Defence Forces Act of 2010. This legal argument proved successful in the High Court, leading to their release in August 2018.

However, the DPP's appeal has thrown a wrench into their bid for freedom. The Court of Appeal's decision for a retrial with a different High Court judge puts their fate back in the legal system's hands. With a more thorough examination of each soldier's case now mandated, the outcome of this retrial remains to be seen.

The 25 ex-KDF officers are; Jeffrey Okuri Pepela, Gabriel Kirigha Chawana, Reid Nyamweya, Samuel Kimani Onesmus, Japheth Muriithi, Ashford Chabari, Polycarp Nyairo, Aggrey Lanogwa, Edward Odanga, Paul Gichini, Romano Ntongondu, Leornard Kighombe, Alfred Ketole, Jonathan Manko Murimi, George Nganga, Moses Bolo, Zechariah Gichoe, Albert Muoki Mwololo, Victor Nabwera, Soud Mohamed Omar, John Mutua, Moses Simiyu, George Mutabari, Samuel Maingi and Simon Njoroge Mbugua.