Former Eastleigh North Chief Paul Kuria Ngugi has lost his final bid to overturn a corruption conviction after the Court of Appeal in Nairobi upheld his sentence for soliciting and receiving a KSh20,000 bribe nearly a decade ago.
A three-judge appellate bench, Justices Patrick Kiage, Weldon Korir, and Joel Ngugi, dismissed Ngugi’s appeal, agreeing with the lower courts that the prosecution had proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the judgment, Ngugi demanded and accepted the bribe from Rhoda Mohamud in October 2014 as an inducement to issue introduction letters for her cousins to be registered as Kenyan citizens.
The Anti-Corruption Court had earlier found him guilty on two counts of solicitation and receipt of a bribe under the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act. He was fined KSh150,000 and KSh100,000, respectively, or face one-year jail terms in default.
In his defence, Ngugi insisted that he had been framed by officers of the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), claiming the complainant planted the marked money on his desk and that his arrest was politically motivated.
However, the appellate judges rejected his explanation, ruling that the EACC operation merely confirmed an offence he had already set in motion.
“The appellant had already demanded a bribe and negotiated the amount before the trap was set. The investigators only confirmed his corrupt intent,” the bench stated.
The court cited video and audio recordings, the recovery of treated money, and forensic evidence showing APQ powder on Ngugi’s hands as proof that corroborated the complainant’s version of events.
While noting that Ngugi had been acquitted on one earlier count after his alibi was supported by a superior, the judges said the acquittal did not affect the strength of the remaining charges.
“We are satisfied that both the conviction and sentence were based on credible evidence carefully analyzed by the trial court and affirmed on first appeal,” the judges said, adding that the fines imposed were lenient compared to the law’s maximum penalties.
With that, the Court of Appeal dismissed Ngugi’s appeal in its entirety, affirming both his conviction and sentence.
