Armed robber sentenced to death for stealing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s car

A man who had been charged with stealing a car belonging to President Uhuru Kenyatta has been sentenced to death.

In a ruling on Thursday, April 14, 2022, Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi stated that the man’s actions were considered a matter of national security hence the harsh sentence.

The suspect alongside four others was charged with robbing a Chief Inspector of Police, David Machui, a BMW 735. The car was valued at Ksh1.2 million at the time.

Inspector Machui was robbed by the four suspects in Utawala, Nairobi area on August 26, 2014, at gunpoint.

According to the charge sheet presented in court, the mechanic was armed with an AK 47 rifle and a pistol during the incident.

The mechanic was charged with the second count of intentionally selling the car despite the knowledge that it was the property of the government.

Two of the accused had died and thus the mechanic was charged for the crime alone.

One of the accomplices reportedly died under unclear circumstances after he was released on bond in 2017. The second co-accused was found dead in Uganda. Police reports indicated that he died of a natural illness.

According to reports, two other car dealers were acquitted due to a lack of evidence linking them to the theft of the motor vehicle.

The mechanic was arrested at Wandegeya in Kampala, near Makerere University. He had been lured into a trap by a special police unit and the car was recovered.

The mechanic drove the car to Uganda after removing its tracking device at a garage in Nairobi.