As courts continue to embrace plea bargaining as a tool for easing case backlogs and accelerating administration of justice, the Judiciary is increasingly drawing a clear line between procedural efficiency and substantive accountability for one’s actions.

While plea agreements may help to hasten the wheels of justice by saving time and resources, courts are also taking a firmer view of their limits, emphasising that negotiated outcomes cannot rewrite the seriousness of a crime.

In this regard, punishment must still reflect both the gravity of the offence and the harm caused, regardless of any agreement between the prosecution and the accused.

This position has been reinforced in recent decisions where courts, instead of extending leniency to offenders who have admitted to offences and entered plea negotiations for reduced penalties, have imposed the maximum sentences provided by law.

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Cornelius Lung'e is one of the recent casualties of the Judiciary’s firmness in reminding offenders that negotiating with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) after committing a heinous crime that led to loss of life is not a guarantee of a lesser sentence or a shorter route to freedom.

Lung'e, 24, was charged with the murder of his wife, Ann Nkatha. The particulars of the offence are that on October 26 last year, at Vyemani area in Likoni, Mombasa Lung’e murdered Ms Nkatha.

He initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder but shortly thereafter, before the prosecution could call the first witness, entered into a plea agreement whereby the charge was reduced to manslaughter in the hope of securing a lighter sentence.

In this case, it is the manner in which the murder was committed that led the High Court in Mombasa to remain firm on offenders who commit serious crimes and then negotiate with the State as a shortcut to freedom.

The prosecution told the court that the murder was executed in the presence of the couple’s five-year-old child, who helplessly witnessed how Lung'e butchered his mother in the morning of the day in their house.

The minor narrated the events leading to the offence, noting that Lung'e locked the house and repeatedly stabbed the victim while neighbours helplessly watched from outside. The child witnessed the horrifying events from inside the house. Nkatha was only 20 years old when her life was violently cut short.

The Mombasa Law Courts building.

Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group

In its submission, the prosecution emphasised the severe psychological trauma the minor suffered and the immeasurable grief endured by the family of the late.

The prosecution also drew the court’s attention to the disturbing rise in cases of femicide and domestic killings in the country and urged it to impose a sentence commensurate with the gravity of the offence and capable of deterring like-minded offenders.

On his part, Lung'e asked for leniency, arguing that he had accepted responsibility for his actions through plea bargaining and that the unfortunate death arose in the context of a domestic dispute.

His advocate told the court that Lung'e attempted to take his own life after the incident, demonstrating emotional instability and impaired judgment at the material time.

His young age, capacity for reform through rehabilitation, and remorse for his actions were among the factors the court was asked to consider.

“We, therefore, plead for a non-custodial sentence coupled with probation supervision, counselling and anger management programmes,” he said.

In the alternative, he asked for a lenient custodial sentence that would afford him an opportunity for eventual reintegration into society and reunification with his daughter.

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The pre-sentence report indicated that Lung'e did not complete secondary education and had experienced recurring conflicts and periods of separation from the deceased.

At the time of the murder, the deceased had resumed cohabitation with the accused approximately three weeks before the commission of the offence.

Court records show that during interviews with the probation officer, the accused attributed their disagreements to allegations of infidelity by the deceased. The probation officer recommended a custodial sentence followed by probationary aftercare supervision.

The Victim Impact Statement produced in court paints a picture of profound grief, loss, and enduring emotional devastation suffered by the deceased’s family. The document details the brutality of the attack and the continuing trauma experienced by the couple’s child, who witnessed the killing of her mother.

The deceased’s family expressed concern regarding the child’s welfare and urged the court to impose a sentence that would adequately reflect the gravity of the offence.

The High Court said although Lung'e had expressed remorse and pleaded guilty, the aggravating circumstances were numerous and exceptionally weighty, including the deliberate attack, his role as a spouse expected to protect the deceased, and his action of closing the door to block neighbours from intervening.

“The deceased suffered multiple stab wounds, demonstrating a level of violence far beyond what was necessary to cause death and revealing a determined intention to inflict maximum harm,” the court noted.

Domestic killings in Kenya

The court also noted that the offence occurred against the backdrop of a disturbing increase in cases of femicide and domestic killings in Kenya, a trend that courts must unequivocally condemn.

The court then turned to the issue of the plea bargain, which Lung'e had raised as one of the factors the court ought to consider in imposing a lesser sentence.

The judge agreed that plea bargaining is an important component of the criminal justice system as it promotes efficiency, conserves judicial resources, spares witnesses and victims’ families the ordeal of a lengthy trial, and may demonstrate acceptance of responsibility.

“However, plea agreements are not intended to provide a convenient avenue through which offenders evade accountability for grave crimes. The reduction of a charge through a plea agreement does not diminish the sanctity of the life lost nor the court’s duty to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of the offending conduct,” the court observed.

The judge said sentencing must remain proportionate to the gravity of the offence, the circumstances in which it was committed, and the harm caused.

The court further stated that allegations of infidelity, marital discord, separation, or relationship breakdown can never justify violence, insisting that Kenyan law provides lawful and civilised mechanisms for resolving domestic disputes, including counselling, mediation, separation, and divorce.

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“A spouse who is dissatisfied with a relationship has the option of walking away from it. No person acquires ownership over the life of another merely by reason of marriage or cohabitation. When relationships break down, the law permits parties to part ways; it does not permit one party to extinguish the life of the other,” the judge said.

The court reminded Lung'e that he had lawful alternatives available to resolve the dispute but chose violence instead.

“The deceased’s family must now bear the permanent loss of a daughter, while the child will grow up without maternal care and with difficult questions concerning the circumstances of her mother’s death,” the judge noted.

The court further noted that femicide, domestic homicide, and family based violence being witnessed in court, and which Lung'e has committed, strike at the very foundation of the family unit and undermine the constitutional values of human dignity, equality, and the right to life.

“Courts must therefore send a clear, firm and unmistakable message that domestic disagreements, jealousy, suspected infidelity, or relationship conflicts are never excuses for violence,” the court noted.

The court concluded that the sentence imposed in such cases must communicate society’s condemnation of such conduct and deter others who may be tempted to resolve domestic disputes through brutality.

“The circumstances of this case call for a sentence that serves not only the purpose of punishment but also general deterrence,” said the court.

Lung'e was subsequently handed life imprisonment, with the court observing that the nature of the offence and the manner in which it was executed left no room for a non-custodial sentence.

This sentence shall take effect from November 19, 2025, when the convict was first arraigned.

Lewis Kazungu Charo (right) at the High Court in Mombasa on November 25, 2025. Charo is charged with the murder of 17-year-old Faridah Changawa (inset).

Photo credit: Brian Ocharo | Nation Media Group

Lewis Kazungu Charo also suffered the same fate.

Charo was charged with the murder of 17-year-old Faridah Changawa on June 6, 2025, at Mferejini village in Kijipwa Sub-Location, Kilifi County.

The court heard that the incident occurred after an argument in which Charo, a palm wine tapper employed by the victim’s family, allegedly attacked the teenager after she rejected his sexual advances.

The prosecution stated that he inflicted fatal stab wounds before fleeing the scene, where the victim later succumbed to her injuries.

Charo initially pleaded not guilty but later changed his plea after the prosecution presented evidence from at least three witnesses, admitting to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

He subsequently entered into a plea bargain with the State in the hope of securing a more lenient sentence.

However, despite the agreement, the High Court sentenced him to 20 years’ imprisonment.

These decisions highlight growing judicial concern over the prevalence of domestic killings, many of which stem from disputes that escalate into fatal confrontations, and a resolve to severely punish wrongdoing regardless of plea bargain agreements with the State.

bocharo@ke.nationmedia.com

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