AfriPulse
Jackson Kihara Gachagua, son of the late Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua, has taken his fight for freedom to the High Court, arguing that his robbery with violence conviction was a deliberate frame-up engineered to strip him of documents tied to his father’s multi-million-shilling estate.
Kihara, currently serving a 20-year sentence at Manyani Maximum Prison following his 2019 conviction, appeared before Justice Alexander Muteti at the Milimani Law Courts seeking permission to reopen his appeal, nearly six years after a court found him guilty.
A Conviction He Says Was Manufactured
At the heart of Kihara’s application is a striking allegation: that the robbery with violence case against him was entirely fabricated as part of a targeted scheme to pressure him into surrendering critical documents connected to his late father’s estate.
Governor Nderitu Gachagua died in 2017, leaving behind what Kihara describes as a contested and document-heavy inheritance dispute.
Kihara told the court that he now holds fresh material evidence capable of proving the prosecution’s case was deliberately constructed against him, and he pushed for the opportunity to present that evidence in open court.
Adding another layer to his claims, he asked to represent himself, arguing that every legal team previously assigned to his defense had been compromised.
“All my advocates were compromised,” Kihara told the court, as he pushed to handle the proceedings personally.
The Documents at the Center of Everything
Kihara told Justice Muteti that key documents tied to the estate dispute have remained hidden under instructions his father left before his death and that disclosing their location would have put him in danger long before now.
“If a court can give me escort, I can hand over the documents to my family. Had I disclosed to my uncle where the documents are, I could not be here today,” Jackson submitted.
The judge took that claim seriously. Justice Muteti directed the authorities at Manyani Maximum Prison to arrange a secure escort so Kihara could retrieve the files and make them available to his family.
Kihara also told the court that he only found the courage to challenge his conviction after receiving what he described as formal protection assurances from the government on October 11, 2024.
“I was framed up and improperly convicted. I am also challenging the manner in which I was convicted,” he argued.
Sentencing Grievances and a Push for Review
Beyond the conviction itself, Kihara raised serious concerns about his sentence. He argued that the four years he spent on remand waiting for his trial to conclude were never deducted from his final 20-year term, calling the omission unconstitutional. He also challenged the length of the sentence itself, pointing out what he described as a glaring inconsistency in how Kenyan courts hand down punishment.
“There are murder suspects who have received lighter sentences than mine. According to the aggravating factors, I believe I should have received a lesser sentence,” he said.
To support a formal sentence review, Kihara attached teaching credentials he earned while incarcerated, alongside medical records and other supporting documents, arguing that his rehabilitation during his years at Manyani deserves consideration.
The Court’s Response: Limits and a Referral
Justice Muteti acknowledged the application but was direct about the boundaries of what the High Court can do at this stage. He explained that he cannot reopen factual matters already settled by the Court of Appeal unless the application clears the legal threshold for a full retrial.
“I cannot revisit issues of fact that have been dealt with by the Court of Appeal unless the issues relate to a retrial,” the judge explained.
The judge advised Kihara to consult his family lawyer and consider escalating his battle to the Supreme Court, noting that several of the weighty estate and jurisdictional issues he raised sit beyond the High Court’s legal reach.
Source: NairobiWire.com | Read the Full Story…
