WHAT IT MEANS TO WORK AS A PROSECUTOR

My job as a prosecutor entails prosecuting offenders, especially murderers. The police carry out investigations and then forward the file to me. After going through the file and being convinced that there is prima facie evidence implicating the accused in the murder of the deceased, I prepare an Information/Indictment/Charge sheet, file it in court and then get the accused arraigned before a judge.

After being informed why he or she is in court, an order is made for him or her to be taken for mental assessment and a date for taking of plea, mostly after two weeks, is scheduled. Once plea is taken, the court gives us the date when the hearing of the case is to commence.

I then liaise with the police to bring witnesses whom I take through exam-in-chief. It is at this stage that they tell the court what they know about what occurred. They are then cross-examined by the defence counsel after which I re-examine them if necessary. The number of witnesses differs from case to case. If at the end of the prosecution’s case, the court rules that the accused has a case to answer, a date is given for the accused to defend himself. 

At defence hearing, the defence counsel leads the accused through his defence after which I cross examine him to discredit his defence. He may be re-examined by his lawyer if need be. We then do final submissions and then wait for the judgment. Some have been acquitted and quite a number convicted and sentenced to death. Capital punishment is still lawful in Kenya even though, of late, there are debates to have it abolished.

The experience has been enriching and heart-wrenching at the same time. I come across cases where a child has killed his mother, a father has murdered his infant child, a man has brutally cut short the life of his wife and many other terrible stories. Some of the witnesses break into tears as they testify. There was a young lady whose boyfriend and father of her two weeks old baby murdered the baby girl because he was unable to take care of her. What a heart-rending story it was. An innocent life brutally cut short.  Getting the young lady to testify was an uphill task. She kept crying. I was moved to tears.

In the meantime I also undertake varying applications from the lower courts to the High Court. One such application are appeals from the rulings and judgments of the lower courts. Since the law permits parties to a suit in the lower court who are dissatisfied by the judgment or ruling of the said court to appeal, I am constantly confronted by diverse applications/appeals from the lower court. Each time such an application is lodged at the High Court, I usually apply to be furnished with the proceedings of the case in the lower court. After reading the said proceedings and the judgment I am able to elect as to whether to vociferously oppose the appeal or concede to the same. Most of the time, I oppose the appeals since there is always rock solid evidence implicating the appellant in the commission of the offence in question. But where the evidence is shaky and seriously in question I am always constrained to concede.

I have come across cases where accused persons have been framed by complainants. This is quite common in sexual offences. There are also cases where rather than amicably sort out mundane issues arising between them, family members rush to court to settle scores. In one such case a brother sued his brother for allegedly destroying his farm fence worth Ksh5,000. The case was heard by the lower court which eventually concluded that at the time the accused is said to have damaged his brother's property he was actually in Nairobi for a meeting. The accused even tabled bus tickets and hotel receipts to show that he had actually traveled. He was acquitted.

Dissatisfied with the court's finding, the wife of the complainant rushed to our office to plead with us to lodge an appeal. But going through the proceedings, it is sufficiently evident that the complainant's case was weak and can scarcely succeed on appeal. And mark you, the complainant has used much more than Ksh5,000, so far, in pursuit of what he considers to be justice. I later learned that the two brothers have had issues over ancestral land. The case of malicious damage to property is actually motivated by bottled up anger and recentment. It is quite unfortunate.

I have also had cases where accused persons threaten me through agents such as relatives.  Quite scary but all I do is pray and tell God to take care of me. I am also careful as to the places I go to. I spend much of my time indoors reading.