The DPP has issued a notice to former Kenya Navy Officers that are yet to present themselves to the High Court at Mombasa for the rehearing of their appeals to do so or risk being re-arrested, or the appeals being reheard in their absence to their detriment.
According to a statement by the DPP on X handle, the said officers had been convicted by the Court martial for the offence of Desertion of Duty.
This follows the overturning by the Court of Appeal at Mombasa over the High Court’s judgment delivered in 2015.
The High Court had in its said judgement set aside the officers’ conviction for the more serious offence of Desertion from the KDF, and substituted the same with the lesser offence of Absence without Leave, and accordingly reduced each of their prison terms from life imprisonment to 2 years.
The 25 naval soldiers were acquitted on charges of deserting the military in 2007 and 2008.
The High Court in Mombasa freed the 25 former naval soldiers after acquitting them on charges that they deserted Kenya’s military to work for US security firms in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.
They had been sentenced to life imprisonment by three court martials at the Mtongwe navy base.
The DPP is keen to have the appeals reheard expeditiously and to also help bring clarity so as to settle any confusion or ambiguity and guidance to the Courts Martial on the nature of conduct that constitutes the offences of Dessertion and Absence without Leave.
