Man Claiming Gachagua Family Link Fails to Overturn 20-Year Robbery Sentence

The High Court has dismissed an application by Jackson Kihara Gachucha to review his conviction and 20-year sentence for robbery with violence, ruling that the issues he raised had already been conclusively determined by the Court of Appeal.

In a ruling delivered by Justice Alexander Muteti, the court held that it lacked jurisdiction to reopen factual matters that had been settled at the appellate level. The judge stated that, in the absence of compelling grounds for a retrial, the High Court could not interfere with either the conviction or the sentence. 

He also noted that some of the arguments advanced by Gachucha fell within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court rather than the High Court. Gachucha argued that his prosecution was driven by political and personal motives and was intended to block his efforts to pursue inheritance rights over his late father's estate. 

He claimed that the criminal case was linked to succession disputes involving documents connected to the estate of former Nyeri Governor Nderitu Gachagua, whom he says was his father. However, the court found that the chronology of events did not support that claim. 

Justice Muteti noted that Gachucha was arrested and charged in 2015, while the former governor died in 2017. The judge ruled that these dates made it impossible to connect the robbery case to the subsequent inheritance dispute.

The court further maintained a clear distinction between the criminal proceedings and the succession matters raised by Gachucha. It found no evidence to support allegations that the prosecution was motivated by personal vendettas or other improper motives.

Gachucha, who is serving his sentence at Manyani Maximum Prison, will remain incarcerated following the decision. The ruling leaves his conviction and 20-year sentence unchanged.