A Magistrate’s Court has ordered the government to compensate businessman Sh15 million for crippling a pharmaceutical import venture by wrongly linking a shipment of multivitamin capsules to narcotics trafficking.
The court awarded Peter Maina Mugambi and his company, Kinetic Resources Limited, the damages after finding that State investigators and prosecutors lacked reasonable grounds to charge him over a consignment imported from China in 2018.
The ruling arose from the interception of a shipment initially suspected to contain the banned psychotropic drug methaqualone. The allegations later collapsed after laboratory tests failed to support the charges.
The dispute subsequently evolved into a civil case, with the trader accusing the State of violating his constitutional rights.
Mr Mugambi, through his lawyer, argued that investigators rushed to charge him before obtaining conclusive laboratory results, despite evidence showing the consignment was a lawful multivitamin import.
In its judgment, the court found that the prosecution was malicious and unsupported by evidence. It held that investigators and prosecutors lacked reasonable and probable cause to charge Mr Mugambi with trafficking psychotropic substances and firearm-related offences.
Import ordeal
Court records show that Mr Mugambi, through his company, imported 200,000 multivitamin capsules from China’s Shandong Runxin Biotechnology Co. Ltd at a cost of $100,000 (Sh12.9 million) after obtaining approvals from the Pharmacy and Poisons Board.
The shipment arrived in Kenya in April 2018 and was redirected to Eldoret Airport for clearance. Anti-narcotics officers detained the consignment after suspecting it contained methaqualone, commonly known as Mandrax.
Mr Mugambi was arrested on April 27, 2018. Police searched his office in Kasarani and his residence, recovering a Ceska pistol, ammunition and a holster.
He was subsequently charged at the JKIA Law Courts alongside other suspects with trafficking psychotropic substances. He also faced charges of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a valid certificate.
The criminal proceedings continued for more than three years before prosecutors withdrew the charges in September 2021 under Section 87(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Case collapses
The magistrate said evidence presented in the civil case showed that findings by the Government Analyst did not support the narcotics allegations and that Mr Mugambi held a valid firearm licence.
‘It is evident that the consignment of multivitamins imported by the plaintiffs from China was not narcotic drugs and that the plaintiff was a licensed firearm holder,’ the court said.
The magistrate found that the arrest and prosecution had been initiated before sufficient investigations were completed and that the available evidence did not support the criminal charges brought against the businessman.
The court awarded the plaintiffs $100,000 (Sh12.9 million) for the seized consignment, Sh1.8 million in legal expenses incurred during the criminal trial and Sh2 million in general damages for malicious prosecution, unlawful arrest and detention.
The court also directed that the firearm and related items seized during the investigation be released to the Firearms Licensing Board for vetting.
The Attorney-General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and other State agencies defended the case, arguing that the arrest and prosecution were undertaken in the exercise of their statutory mandates and were based on information available at the time.
They urged the court to dismiss the claims for damages, maintaining that the prosecution was lawful and not motivated by malice.
The magistrate, however, held that the plaintiffs had proved their case on a balance of probabilities and were entitled to compensation.