• He committed the offence on November 3, 2018, at Milan Health International Limited in Kayole.
• He operated a laboratory without a licence from the Kenya Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board.
Image: FILE
James Mugo, alias Mugo wa Wairimu, has been sentenced to three years in jail.
A Nairobi court found him guilty of operating a clinic, a laboratory and a pharmacy and practising as a nurse without licences. Alternatively, he will pay a Sh1.4 million fine.
Milimani senior resident magistrate Martha Nanzushi yesterday ruled that the prosecution had proved its case against Wairimu. The total cumulative number of years he has been sentenced to is 11 but he will only serve three.
“In count one, I sentence the accused to serve two years in jail or pay a fine of Sh20,000; the second count he will serve two years in jail or pay a fine of Sh200,000; count three sentenced to serve nine months or Sh50,000 fine; count 4 to pay a fine of Sh500,000 or serve three years, count five to serve six months or pay Sh150,000; and count six to serve three years in jail or pay Sh500,000,” the magistrate ruled.
Nanzushi said the sentences should run concurrently.
Mugo was convicted of six counts of operating an unregistered pharmacy while not registered with the Kenya Pharmacy and Poisons Board and in premises not registered with the board.
He committed the offence on November 3, 2018, at Milan Health International Limited in Kayole.
Mugo operated a laboratory without a licence from the Kenya Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board. He also operated a clinic without a licence and engaged in private practice as a nurse while not licensed.
In 2015, Mugo was arrested in a different case and charged with various offences linked to operating an illegal clinic in Githurai 44, Nairobi, and raping a woman he had allegedly sedated at Prestige Healthcare Clinic on November 1, 2014.
Women rights’ organisations had issued a 48-hour ultimatum for his arrest, failing which they would mobilise a nationwide protest. The nine organisations expressed utter shock at the pace at which the authorities were pursuing the sexual abuse claims. Authorities said Mugo was neither a registered doctor nor nurse.
“We are demanding the immediate arrest of Mugo wa Wairimu and his prosecution to the fullest extent under the law. We wonder and question the lacklustre response by authorities for not ensuring that his business was permanently closed when he was found breaking the law early this year,” said Esther Wambui, executive director of Young Women’s Leadership Institute.
They termed it disheartening that Mugo was still posting unapologetic remarks on social media platforms even, yet the police had not arrested him.
“The quack doctor remains unapologetic and remorseless in the wake of the serious charges against him. What is the role of the cybercrime unit in Kenya if they cannot arrest him?” Diana Okello of Okoa Dada said.
They further called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to issue a statement as a warning to criminals who use political activism as a coverup.