By B, KNA
A 42-year-old man was on Tuesday sentenced to serve a four-year jail term after a Murang’a court found him guilty of trafficking bhang.
The accused, Edward Maina was convicted of the offence that was committed on September 8, at Kahatia Market in Kahuro sub county, Murang’a, where he was found in possession of 104 rolls of bhang valued at Sh5,200.
According to the facts presented in the court by the prosecution, the accused was a repeat offender since in 2021, he had been convicted and jailed for two years after he was found with bhang.
The court heard that Maina was later released under a prison decongestion process and placed on a six-month community service programme.
When he appeared before Murang’a Chief Magistrate Peter Ndwiga, the accused said he usually uses bhang as a stimulant to enhance stamina because he is often engaged in carrying out menial jobs.
In his testimony, Murarandia Chief stated that the accused resided in his area saying Maina poses a threat to the community as he has persisted in selling bhang despite repeated warnings and previous arrests.
Also, the Chief of Gatuya sub location stated that the offender previously resided in her area and was involved in selling bhang to school-going children adding that due to several house searches and arrests he relocated to Kahatia market but still continued trafficking the narcotic.
Both chiefs described Maina as a habitual bhang trafficker and also stated that contrary to his claims of using the drug due to undertaking hard labour jobs such as digging pits or unblocking sewers, he doesn’t partake in such but is primarily involved in peddling of bhang.
The testimonies by the chiefs indicated that Maina was well known to the local administrators and had been alleged to have previously been charged on several occasions, as well as summoned by the Chiefs yet his behavior remained unchanged.
Maina’s sister Florence Nyamwathi, testifying in his defence acknowledged that the family is aware that he smokes bhang but denied being involved in selling the drug.
She pleaded for a lenient sentence describing his brother as a valuable person to the family.
In his mitigation, Maina acknowledged that possessing cannabis is against the law and asked for forgiveness.
However, he maintained that he can’t change his line of work since those are the only activities he can do to earn a living while living in the rural area and therefore can’t stop smoking bhang.
Chief Magistrate Ndwiga ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, citing the consistent testimonies of the Chiefs, the probation report and his previous record.
He said the accused had not proved that use of bhang was medicinal and in addition granted him 14 days to appeal the sentence if dissatisfied.