- When Mugambi convicted him last Friday he said the IG can redeem himself by availing himself before court in person.
- But since the conviction and sentencing, Masengeli has opted to appeal.
Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli has been caught in a precarious situation after the Court of Appeal pushed the hearing of his application in which he seeks to suspend the six-month jail sentence to next week.
With the sentence taking effect this Friday, Masengeli may have to take advantage of the seven-day grace period extended to him by Justice Lawrence Mugambi to redeem himself.
When Mugambi convicted him last Friday he said the IG can redeem himself by availing himself before court in person to answer to the issues which he has been avoiding.
"Failure to do so will automatically result in the sentence taking effect," the Judge said.
But since the conviction and sentencing, Masengeli has opted to appeal.
One appeal was filed by the Attorney General challenging his conviction.
At this time, the police boss had not been sentenced. A few days later, Masengeli himself filed an appeal. This came after he was sentenced.
Both appeals were slated for hearing today but the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which is a party in the case said they were not ready to proceed.
The reason being that they were served with Masengeli's appeal quite late and they needed time to respond.
They were only ready to proceed with the one filed by the AG.
LSK is the body that took Masengeli and others to court following the disappearance of three Kenyans in Kitengela last month.
Advocate Cecil Miller and Steve Ogolla representing Masengeli tried to arrest the situation saying both appeals are similar.
The only distinction they said is that one was filed before sentencing and the other post-sentencing.
Ogolla told Justices Gatembu Kairu, Weldon Korir and Aggrey Muchelule that they served the LSK within the timelines stipulated by the court but the same hadn't been responded to.
But the bench after listening to all parties was inclined to issue an adjournment as requested by LSK to allow them to respond to the application by Masengeli.
"We feel it's a reasonable request. They have two days within which to file their responses. Both applications will be heard together next week," the Judges said.
Masengeli in his appeal before court claims he was unfairly targeted and that the court overstepped its bounds by sentencing him unheard.
He seeks to suspend his conviction and sentencing, saying he was condemned unheard.
The IG said a decision was made by the courts in the absence of any formal application for contempt.
He also said the judge "made a mistake" by holding that he cannot send representatives to explain why the order requiring the production of the missing persons had not been complied with.
The judge's summons did not require his personal attendance, the IG said, citing Order 9 of the civil procedure rules (2010) which provides that any appearance in court may be done by his advocates or recognised agents.
At the same time, he faulted the judge for disregarding his replying affidavit to the case, which he says provided evidence that the missing Kenyans were not in police custody.