A Makueni man who beat his mother to death on suspicion she was having an affair with a family member, when his father was a way, will be in jail for 18 years after his appeal failed.
The tragedy happened on the night of February 3 and 4, 2017 at Kyandune village in Kitiango locatio, Makueni county.
Once he killed her, he dragged the body metres a way from home and dumped it in a nearby thicket. A witness told court he saw Alex Mwendo drag his mother, Hannah Wanza, from her house, hit her three times with a panga and strangle her until she urinated.
The witness added that he heard the deceased whimper behind the kitchen.
Mwendo’s father, who also testified against him, said that he received a call from his son (Mwendo) the night before the deceased disappeared.
Court papers say that when he was told that his mother was missing and asked about what had happened the night before, Mwendo, who was always drunk, simply told those concerned to check on her at the family home.
Despite the best efforts of family members to trace Wanza, they were unable to find her. The body was found decomposed 100 metres from home days later.
The High Court found Mwendo guilty of murder in 2022.
He, however, appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal, and a three-judge bench gave their decision on October 11.
The court, in dismissing his appeal, ruled that given the brutality meted on the poor woman, the man deserved a long sentence.
Mwendo had alleged the prosecution case was riddled with inconsistencies and unverified evidence that could not link him to the murder.
But the judges dismissed this ground, finding that though there were inconsistencies, they were not enough to let him off the hook.
“In our view, the contradictions of the witnesses herein were so minor compared to the concurrence and similarity of facts seen from their testimonies,” the judgement reads.
“We therefore are not persuaded to reject or disbelieve the evidence which is cogent that the said evidence was not displaced by the defence.
The judges also explained that
“minor discrepancies or variations
in testimonies are not uncommon
and do not necessarily undermine
the credibility of witnesses, or the
overall strength of the prosecution’s
case."
