Man to pay Sh100,000 fine for illegal logging in Ngong Forest
David Mukeku at the Kibera law courts.
A logger who was caught after cutting a tree in the Ngong Forest will pay Sh100,000 fine or in default serve one year in jail.
The convict, David Chombo Mukeku, was handed the penalties by senior principal magistrate Esther Bhoke of Kibera law courts after pleading guilty to charges of cutting and removing forest produce contrary to the Forest Conservation and Management Act of 2016.
Mukeku had been arrested in the forest on September 11, 2021, at dawn and pleaded guilty to the charges.
Forest rangers Philip Kipkoech Towett and Godfrey Khayenge, while on patrol, found a long Olea Africana having been cut at around 3am.
They laid an ambush and before long, Mukeku showed up and took the log.
They emerged from their hideouts, accosted him and found him with a handsaw.
After interrogation, they established that he did not have a permit from the chief conservator of forests and escorted him to Jamhuri police station.
State counsel Nancy Kerubo sought a stiffer penalty for Mukekeku because he is a repeat offender.
Mukeku had been jailed twice by Ngong law courts for the same offence and once by Kibera law courts therefore it was the fourth time he was in court for the same offence.
In mitigation, Mukeku told the court he has two children in high school and two others in primary school and all are dependent on him.
He told Bhoke that he had been committing the crimes to fend for his family but pledged to stop.
