Nairobi Court Orders Gov’t to Pay Kenyan Man Sh5 Million for Wrongful Arrest

A 28-year-old Kenyan man has been awarded Sh5 million after a Nairobi court established that he was wrongly arrested and prosecuted.

High Court judge James Makau on Friday directed the State to pay Anthony Murimi Waigwe Sh4.5 million as compensation and an extra Sh500,000 as punitive damages.

In his ruling, Justice Makau noted that police and the prosecution violated Murimi’s rights by pressing a robbery with violence charge against him without evidence in 2015.

“I find that it is not properly right in a civilized society like ours to close our eyes, ears and mouths when police officers arrest and charge innocent Kenyan youth and have them taken through an unnecessary criminal trial like in the instance case,” Justice Makau ruled.

“In my view, any good prosecution must be purposeful and should not be used to stage-manage cases… in a democratic society like ours no one should be charged without authorities conducting proper investigations.”

Murimi was arrested on July 22nd, 2015 while heading to Kamiti Selfridges Supermarket, where he worked as an attendant. The court heard that he was booked to Kayole police station and was informed of the reasons for the arrest.

He was detained there for one week until July 31st, 2015 when he was arraigned in court alongside another suspect and charged with robbery with violence.

Justice Makau found that the charge against him was out of malice as police failed to provide any evidence including the alleged stolen goods.

He further observed that facts in the case clearly showed no reasonable and honest person could believe that the robbery with violence charge against Murimi was likely to yield a conviction.