Syombua murder: Ex-KDF officer Peter Mugure seeks to represent himself
A former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) Major accused of killing his wife, Joyce Syombua, and their two children, has told a Nyeri court that he wants to represent himself in the triple murder case.
Appearing before Justice Florence Muchemi in a virtual session on Wednesday, from Nyeri’s King’ong’o Prison, ex-soldier Peter Mugure said that he has remined unrepresented since December last year.
During the mention of the case, he said he had filed an application last year requesting to be allowed to represent himself in the matter.
Today was the first time the former military man was appearing before Justice Muchemi after Justice Jairus Ngaah, who first took up the matter, was transferred to Nairobi last year.
Mr Mugure informed the court of the challenges he has undergone, including difficulties in serving the prosecution and the court with documents related to his case.
“I was only able to serve the prosecution with the self-review application dated December 17, 2020 that is seeking for self-representation,” he told the judge.
“Every time I call the courts to find out how to file the case, I am always told that they will call back but they never do. I am worried that I will be by-passed by the prosecution’s reply to my applications,” he added.
He requested that the court orders Duncan Ondimu of the Director of Public Prosecutions' office to personally serve him with any written responses related to the case.
Justice Muchemi thus ordered Mr Ondimu to liaise with the officer in charge of King’ong’o Prison to ensure that the suspect’s applications reach the court.
Multiple lawyers
In the self-review application, Mr Mugure reveals that he fired his lawyer Kariuki Runo. The accused has sacked three lawyers so far.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta addresses the media outside Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
The case was first handled by lawyer Cliff Ombeta, who the ex-soldier fired in December 2019 after his second plea-taking when he failed to appear in court. In his place, lawyer Kimani Njuguna took up the matter but was fired on September 11, 2020.
Later, he hired Mr Runo who was thereafter fired in December last year after appearing in court once during a mention.
Mr Mugure is also requesting to get his motor vehicle back, as well as other personal effects that are being held by the police.
The case, which has never proceeded for pre-trial, has been in court for more than a year now.
After the transfer of Justice Ngaah, the case proceeded for mentions before other High Court judges. It was formally taken up yesterday by Justice Ngaah’s successor, Justice Muchemi.
Mr Mugure is accused of committing the three murders on October 26, 2019 at the Laikipia Airbase in Nanyuki town.
The case will be heard on April 11 to decide whether the accused will be allowed to represent himself. BY DAILY NATION
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