Two men have been sentenced to death after they were found guilty of violently robbing a local boda boda rider and stealing his mobile phone and money from his M-Pesa account.
Senior Principal Magistrate Eric Malesi of the Wajir Court convicted Abdiaziz Ali Ahmed, alias "Odi," and Abdiwahab Mohamed Hassan, alias "Steam Boy," after finding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The two were charged with robbery with violence contrary to Section 295 as read with Section 296(2) of the Penal Code.
Abdiaziz also faced an alternative charge of handling stolen property contrary to Section 322(1) as read with Section 322(2) of the Penal Code.
The prosecution, led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Robert Nyoro, presented three witnesses and produced several exhibits during the trial.
In his ruling, Justice Malesi said the testimonies from the witnesses and the exhibits presented before court provided watertight evidence that supported the conviction and sentencing of the two accused persons.
The court heard that on the night of November 13, 2025, at about 9:30 pm, the complainant, Nesiah Thuranira Mwenda, was riding his motorcycle along Baraza Park Road in Wajir Township when two men approached him pretending to be passengers.
Moments later, about five other men emerged from a nearby corridor and surrounded him. The gang, armed with knives, assaulted him, threatened to kill him and stole his Tecno Pop 8 mobile phone valued at Sh30,000.
The attackers then forced the complainant to accompany them to an M-Pesa shop operated by Josephat Kimathi, where they demanded money from his mobile wallet.
The court heard that the men assaulted the rider and forced him to reveal his M-Pesa PIN before withdrawing Sh15,000 from his account.
The complainant later managed to escape and alerted the M-Pesa agent not to give out any more money, but the attackers had already received Sh10,000. The armed men also forced the agent to transfer the remaining Sh5,000 to a mobile number.
During investigations, police established that the mobile number had been registered using the identity card details of the first accused’s sister without her knowledge or involvement.
The stolen phone was later recovered from the first accused’s mother.
Although both women declined to testify in court, the investigating officer presented evidence linking the accused persons to the offences. After being placed on their defence, both accused persons gave sworn testimony but did not call any witnesses.
In his judgment, Justice Malesi ruled that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt and convicted both men.
Following mitigation, the court sentenced the two convicts to death as provided under Section 296(2) of the Penal Code.
The convicts were informed of their right to appeal against both the conviction and sentence within 14 days.
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