Stolen electronic items at Chuka Police Station in Tharaka-Nithi County on April 1, 2022.Can a technician be held criminally liable simply because he cannot produce purchase receipts for every electronic item entrusted to him for repair?The High Court has ruled that a technician’s failure to provide proof of purchase for items in their possession does not, in itself, constitute criminal liability.According to the court, technicians routinely hold numerous electronic items belonging to different customers and cannot reasonably be expected to demand original purchase receipts before accepting them for repair.“A technician cannot be legally forced to demand original purchase receipts from every customer who brings an item for repair,” the High Court in Busia said.Turbo Sub-County Police Commander Edward Masibo (right) and other officers display recovered electronic goods at Huruma Police Station in Eldoret town on January 6, 2022. The court made the remarks while setting free technician Samuel Walubengo, who had been serving a 15-year cumulative sentence after being convicted over the alleged theft and possession of electronic items.The High Court found serious flaws in the prosecution case, including inconsistencies in the timeline, failure to produce key exhibits and shortcomings in proof of ownership.The court declared the criminal conviction against him unsafe and unsustainable, finding that it was not founded upon proof beyond reasonable doubt.“The convictions against Walubengo, on all counts, are quashed, and the cumulative sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment is set aside due to total insufficiency of evidence,” the court said in a ruling dated September 21.Walubengo was arrested in 2023 and charged with five counts arising from alleged thefts in Nambale Centre, Busia County.He was accused of breaking into Jentrix Auma’s shop at about 3am on October 26, 2023, and committing a felony. He was also accused of breaking into the same shop around midnight on August 20, 2023, and stealing a power bank valued at Sh10,000.Further, he was accused of breaking into Patricia Pamba’s shop at about 9.30am on October 10, 2023, and stealing a money scanner valued at Sh1,000.The fourth count accused him of breaking into Eliza Juma’s house at about 2am on September 24, 2023, and stealing a six kilogrammes gas cylinder valued at Sh6,000. The second, third and fourth counts carried alternative charges of handling stolen property.The High Court has ruled that a technician’s failure to provide proof of purchase for items in their possession does not, in itself, constitute criminal liability.In the last count, he was accused of having suspected stolen property in his possession, including eight television sets, two water heaters, a power bank and a speaker. The prosecution called four witnesses.Ms Pamba told the court that she found her shop broken into on October 10, 2023, with a number of items missing, including three gas cylinders, a printer, hair products, a money scanner, an M-Pesa board, a Maasai shuka, two woofers and 450 coins. She later identified the money scanner at Walubengo’s shop.Ms Auma said her shop was broken into around midnight on October 26, 2023, and later identified a white power bank at Walubengo’s house.Ms Juma testified that her premises were broken into on September 24, 2023, while she was in Nairobi. She said her green F-gas cylinder, phones, earphones, clothes and shoes were among the missing items. She later identified the gas cylinder recovered by police and produced a receipt.The investigating officer said police arrested Walubengo after one of the suspected thieves was assaulted by members of the public and died on the way to hospital. Walubengo, he said, fled to Tanga Corner Police Station.Police subsequently took him to his house, where the complainants identified some of the items reported stolen. Officers also recovered several other electronic items that Walubengo could not account for, although some remained unclaimed. A customer, Caroline Okwara, produced a receipt for one of the televisions, saying she had taken it to Walubengo for repair.Walubengo, however, told the court that he operated a licensed electronics repair shop and that the items recovered from his premises belonged to customers.He said that on October 26, 2023, four boys approached him at an M-Pesa shop, pretending to seek repair services, before assaulting him and accusing him of theft. He said they took him to Tanga Corner Police Station and later Nambale Police Station, where officers took him to his shop and confiscated televisions, solar panels, electric kettles and speaker boxes.The trial magistrate convicted him and imposed a cumulative 15-year sentence, prompting him to appeal to the High Court in Busia.Walubengo challenged the conviction on grounds, including a discrepancy between the date of his arrest and the date he was recorded as having taken plea, failure to produce the power bank and gas cylinder, lack of proof of ownership, alleged violations of his fair-trial rights and the removal of key documents from the certified appeal record.
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