Stephen Odede v Republic [2017] KEHC 1135 (KLR)

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REPUBLIC OF KENYA

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NAIROBI

CRIMINAL DIVISION

CRIMINAL APPEAL NUMBER 10 OF 2017

STEPHEN ODEDE...……………..APPELLANT.

VERSUS

REPUBLIC ……..……………….RESPONDENT.

(An application for bail pending appeal under Article 50(2) of the Constitution, Section 357(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 191 of the Kenya Defence Forces Act and all other enabling provisions of law).

RULING

Stephen Odede, herein the Appellant, filed a Notice of Motion dated 28th September, 2017 in which the main order sought was that he be released on bail pending the hearing and determination of the appeal. He based the application on the grounds that the appeal is arguable and has an overwhelming chance of success. He averred that the court martial erred when it convicted him after arriving at a finding that he rejoined the Kenya Defence Forces of his own volition which negated any intention on his part to remain permanently absent from duty. He submitted that the necessary mens reafor the offence of desertion was therefore absent. He was of the view that the court martial did err when it found that he was on active duty when he allegedly absented himself from duty. Further, that the court martial erred when it failed to find that he lacked the capacity to intend to absent himself from duty as he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to post combat exposure.

He asserted that he was wrongly convicted against the weight of evidence and that in the circumstances the court erred when it sentenced him to life imprisonment which was excessive, disproportionate, undeserved and unwarranted. He faulted the sentence as erroneous in view of the mitigation he offered. Further, that there was a failure to consider the defence he set out. He further faulted the Court Martial for failing to take into account the summing up of the judge-advocate which rendered the process of the trial of no essence. He concluded by stating that the whole trial was a sham and a travesty to justice.

The application was supported by an affidavit sworn by the Appellant in which he deponed that he was enlisted into the Kenya Defence Forces on 27th April, 2009 and posted to Section 3 number 9 Platoon of the C company of the 1st Kenya Rifles Battalion. The battalion in question was sent to Somalia to capture five towns from the Al Shabab militants which they succeeded in doing thus completing their mission. That they were thereafter replaced by the 9th Battalion Kenya Rifles. That in the circumstances he applied and was granted leave. While on leave he suffered post war trauma and lost consciousness. That upon his recovery he rejoined the Kenya Defence Forces. He reported back to his Unit at Nanyuki as investigations on his absence were conducted. He was subsequently charged for committing the offence of desertion. On 27th September, 2017 the Court Martial convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He further deposed that bail should be granted as he would be suffering an unlawful sentence if the appeal was allowed.

The Respondent was represented by learned State Counsel, Ms. Sigei who filed Grounds of Opposition on 10th October, 2017. They were that; the appeal has no chance of success, that the appeal will not be rendered nugatory if bail is not granted and finally, that there are no exceptional circumstances that warrants the Appellant’s admission to bail pending appeal.

The application was canvassed before me on 10th October, 2017 with learned counsel, Mr. Kaluma representing the Appellant and Ms. Sigei representing the Respondent. In addition to the grounds on which the application is premised, Mr. Kaluma submitted that the charge sheet lacked adequate particulars and was hence in violation of Article 50(2)(b) of the Constitution, a ground on which the appeal was likely to succeed. He submitted that the Court Martial did not also consider the summary of evidence rendered by the Judge-Advocate.

He submitted that the Appellant was charged under Section 74 of the Kenya Defence Forces Act which provided the proof of three ingredients namely; proof that the accused absented himself from duty for a continuous period of 90 days, proof that when he absented himself he was on active duty as defined at Section 2 of the Act and proof that the accused had the intention to remain permanently absent from duty. He submitted that the appeal does not contest the fact that the Appellant absented himself for more than 90 days. The contestation is that the Appellant did not have the mental capacity to absent himself as he was suffering from post war trauma. He relied on the case ofLt. Jeffery Okuri Pepela & 25 others v. Republic[2015]eKLRto buttress this submission. Counsel added thatit was also contested that the Appellant was on active duty against an enemy when he absented himself. Hi view was that no evidence pointed to an intent by the Appellant to remain permanently absent from service. According to the counsel, this was demonstrated not only by the fact that the Appellant did not possess the mental capacity to form such mens rea but also by the fact that he personally reported back to his unit.

Counsel submitted that in meting out the sentence of life imprisonment the court did not consider the Appellant’s mitigation which rendered the sentence illegal. Further, that the sentence was excessive and the appeal was likely to succeed on this ground. Counsel was of the opinion that the entire trial was a travesty to justice as the evidence was not properly argued.

He then submitted that Section 1 of the Kenya Defence Forces Act underlined the importance of granting the Appellant leave to be present during the hearing of the appeal. He submitted that the Appellant was also the sole bread winner to his family of four and he urged for reasonable bail terms.

Ms. Sigei in opposing the application reiterated her grounds of opposition and added that the evidence established that the Appellant was absent for 689 days thus meeting the criteria of proof of the offence with which he was charged. Further that it was established that the Appellant was on active duty under ‘Operation Linda Nchi’. With regard to the lack of mental capacity, she submitted that this assertion was never proved. She submitted that a card from Homa Bay Hospital was identified but rejected by the court as it did not meet the threshold of admissibility. She submitted that a doctor who testified found that the medical card in question related to a test carried out by a Clinician who should have referred the Appellant to a hospital where a qualified medical practitioner, psychiatrist, could evaluate him. Furthermore, the medical card was dated 8th September, 2012 a day after the day he was supposed to return to duty. She said that this clearly showed the report was made for mischievous purposes. After all, no report was received by KDF to show that the Appellant was sick. With regard to the Appellant’s loss of consciousness, counsel submitted that the medical report was not clear when this occurred.

On sentence, she submitted that the Court Martial exercised its discretion given the circumstances of the case to pass the right sentence. She submitted that the Appellant left his colleagues in Somalia fighting and that therefore the sentence was meant to deter others from doing the same. She added that the charge sheet was not defective that the offence was proved beyond a reasonable doubt. She urged that the application be dismissed.

In reply, Mr. Kaluma urged the court to look at the summation of the case and find that the issues that were raised by the Appellant were not considered. He submitted that the burden of proving insanity lay with the prosecution and not the defence. He submitted that a whole battalion of 35 members was granted leave to return home and that this break meant that the continuous active service was disconnected. He submitted that the Appellant’s unit had already completed its assignment in Somalia. He urged the court to look at the decision of Muya J. defining active service. He urged the court to allow the application.

Determination

The case law is now settled on the circumstances under which a court may grant bail pending appeal. The Applicant must satisfy the court that, either his appeal has an overwhelming chance of success or that there exists exceptional and unusual circumstances to warrant the grant of bail pending appeal. See Trevelyan J. inSomo v.Republic[1972] EA 476. He delivered himself thus;

“It seems to me that when these applications are considered it must never be forgotten that the presumption is that when the applicant was convicted, he was properly convicted. That is why, where he is undergoing a custodial sentence, he must demonstrate, if he wishes to anticipate the result of his appeal and secure his liberty forthwith, that there are exceptional or unusual circumstances in the case. That is why when he relies on the ground that his appeal will prove successful, he must show that there is an overwhelming probability that it will succeed.”

On the success of the appeal, the Appellant set out a number of issues which he submitted pointed to the inevitable success of the appeal. The first issue relates to the charge in question which is that the ingredients of the offence of desertion as set out under Section 74 of the Kenya Defence Forces Act were not proved. The provision reads:

74. Desertion

(1)  A person who is subject to this Act commits an offence if that person—

(a)  deserts; or

(b)  persuades or procures any person subject to this Act to desert.

(2) A person deserts if that person—

(a) with the intention, either at the time or formed later, of remaining permanently absent from duty—

(i) leaves the Defence Forces; or

(ii)  fails to join or rejoin the Defence Forces when it is the person’s duty to join or rejoin them;

(b) being an officer, enlists in or enters the Defence Forces without having resigned the person’s commission;

(c)  being a service member, enlists in or enters the Defence Forces without having been discharged from any previous enlistment;

(d) is absent without leave, with intent to avoid serving in any place outside Kenya, or to avoid service or any particular service when before an enemy; or

(e) is absent without leave for a continuous period of more than ninety days.

(3) A person who commits an offence under subsection (1), shall be liable, upon conviction by a court-martial—

(a) to imprisonment for life or any lesser punishment provided for by this Act if—

(i) the offence was committed under subsection (1)(a), the person was on active service or under orders for active service at the time when it was committed; or

(ii) the offence was committed under subsection (1)(b) the person in relation to whom it was committed was on active service or under orders for active service at that time; or

(b) to imprisonment for not more than two years, in any other case.

(4) In addition to, or without any other punishment, a court-martial that convicts an officer or service member of desertion; other than a reservist called out on permanent service, may direct that the whole or any part of any service preceding the period of desertion shall be forfeited.

The Appellant submits that the offence of desertion has three ingredients, namely; proof that the accused has been absent for a continuous period of more than 90 days, proof that the accused was under active duty when he absented himself and lastly proof that the accused had formed the intention to remain permanently absent from duty.

Under subsection (1), the provision to be sets out two classes of offences; desertion and persuasion or procurement to commit desertion. It then goes ahead under subsection (2) to set out various circumstances which if proved individually constitute desertion. Under subsection 2(a) it states that it is an offence for an accused who with the intent, whether formed at or after the event, to remain permanently absent from duty leaves the defence forces or fails to join or rejoin the forces when it is his duty to do so. Under subsection 2(b) it states that it is an offence for an officer to enlist or enter the Defence Forces without prior resigning from her commission. Under subsection (2)(c) it states that it is an offence for a service member to enlist or enter the Defence Forces without being discharged from any previous enlistment. Under subsection (2)(d) it states that it is an offence to be absent without leave with the intent to avoid serving in any place outside Kenya or with an intent to avoid service or with an intent to avoid any particular service when before an enemy. Finally, subsection (2)(e) states that it is an offence to be away without leave for a continuous period of more than 90 days.

Subsection (3) deals with sentencing. It provides in (a) a sentence of life imprisonment to which an accused is liable if, in case of desertion, he or she was on active service or under orders for active service when the offence was committed or where the accused is accused of persuading or procuring another to desert where the person so persuaded or procured was on active duty or under orders for active service. Under (b) it provides a period of imprisonment of not more than two years where the provisions of (a) above are not met.

Thus, desertion takes 5 distinct iterations contrary to the submission by the counsel for the Appellant. It is also clear that the ingredients he pointed out are actually an amalgamation of some of the iterations set out above.

In the present case, the Appellant was charged of committing desertion contrary to Section 74(1)(a) as read with sections 74(2)(e) and 74(3)(a)(i) of the Kenya Defence Forces Act. The Appellant submitted that mental capacity was an important element; that to establish his guilt mes rea had to be proved.A ruling of Muya J. in Lt. Jeffery Okuri Pepela & 25 others v. Republic(supra)was referredto, to buttress this submission. In that case, the learned Judge found that desertion was not a strict liability offence. The Appellants therein were charged only under Section 74(1) of the Kenya Defence Forces Act which clearly is distinguishable from the instant case where the Appellant was specifically charged of committing desertion as set out under Section 74(2)(e). My interpretation of this subsection is that it is silent on mens rea. I then pose the question whether the absence of a mens rea requirement under subsection (2)(e) made the offence absolute. I will answer this question with guidance from Sweet v. Parsley[1969] 1 All ER 347in which the House of Lords said;

“Sometimes the words of a section which creates a particular offence make it clear that mens rea is required in one form or another. Such cases are quite frequent. But in very large number of cases there is no clear indication either way. In such cases there has for centuries been a presumption that Parliament did not intend to make criminals of persons who were in no way blameworthy in what they did. That means that whenever a section is silent as to mens rea there is a presumption that, in order to give effect to the will of Parliament, we must read in words appropriate to require mens rea.”

The House of Lords went further and found that:

“It is also firmly established that the fact that other sections of the Act expressly require mens rea, …, is not in itself sufficient to justify that a decision that a section which is silent as to mens rea creates an absolute offence. In the absence of a clear indication in the Act that an offence is intended to be an absolute offence, it is necessary to go outside the Act and examine all relevant circumstances in order to establish that this must have been the intention of Parliament. I say “must have been” because it is a universal principle that if a penal provision is reasonably capable of two interpretations, that interpretation which is most favourable to the accused must be adopted.”

From this case law, it is clear that the iterations of the offence of desertion in subsections (2)(a), (b),(c) and (d) set out the proof of mens rea necessary to establish the offence. But the mere silence on proof of mens rea at subsection (e) cannot be taken as an indicator that it was intended that an offence charged thereunder is a strict liability offence. Thus the circumstances of a case calls must be weighed in arriving at a decision in each case. This understanding, if interpreted alongside the purpose of the KDF Act, which is to “provide for the functions, organization and administration of the Kenya Defence Forces ..., [and] to provide for disciplinary matters”,leads me to conclude that the Act is quasi-criminal in nature. With that in mind, I once again borrow the words from Sweet v.Parsley(Supra) that:

“It has long been the practice to recognise absolute offences in this class of quasi-criminal acts, and one can safely assume that, when Parliament is passing new legislation dealing with this class of offences, its silence as to mens rea means that the old practice is to apply.”

I would then not hesitate to conclude that, although the offence under subsection (3)(e) of the Act, per se, is a strict liability offence, if an accused demonstrated that he lacked the mental capacity and therefore did not have the mens rea to commit the offence, nothing stops the court from acquitting him. The main ground on which the Appellant argues his case is that he was mentally unwell and was therefore not in a position to resume duty. But the evidence on the face of it demonstrates the contrary. First, his medical report was not prepared by a qualified medical practitioner, a psychiatrist. Although, as he said, he was in a remote area, the Clinician would have referred him to a bigger hospital in Kisumu where a specialist was available. Furthermore, as rightly submitted by the Respondent, the report was prepared specifically to guarantee him a reentry into the Forces having been made a day after he was meant to resume duty after leave. Prima facie, therefore, the Appellant is unable to convince the court that the he was unwell for the period he deserted duty.

On whether the Appellant was on active duty as set out in the KDF Act, I would wish that this issue be dealt with in appeal. I would add that he was unable to show that he had resigned or been lawfully discharged from duty, reasons wherefore he was still bound by the rules of service.

On whether the offences set out under the entire Section 74 require strict liability. I would wish that this be also canvassed at the hearing of the appeal lest I preempt any findings by the Appellate judge. I must add however that I have taken the liberty to detail the mens rea issue because of the zeal and detail with which the same was argued by counsel for the Appellant. The failure to do what I have done would have created a void in justifying the final decision I will arrive at.

On whether any unusual or exceptional circumstances exist, the mere fact that the Appellant is married and has children does not constitute a special circumstance that should warrant the grant of bail pending appeal. It must be borne in mind that he was convicted by a competent court and unless that conviction and sentence are set aside, he must remain in prison.

On sentence, although life imprisonment may appear excessive, it is not a sufficient ground on which this application should succeed. The same would mitigate a release on bail only if, on evaluation of the entire evidence, the appeal is likely to succeed. But the view of this court though is that the appeal is unlikely to succeed.

The Appellant also prayed that the court be pleased to allow his attendance in the appeal hearing. In view of his right of appeal under Article 50(2)(q) his attendance to the proceedings would be in line with Article 51(1) of the Constitution. The prayer is granted.

The upshot of my findings is that this application lacks merit and the same is accordingly dismissed. It is so ordered with no ordered on costs.

Dated and delivered at Nairobi This 7th November, 2017.

G. W. NGENYE – MACHARIA

JUDGE

In the presence of:

1. Mr. Thuo h/b for Mr. Kaluma for the Appellant/Applicant.

2. Miss Sigei for the Respondent.