Stephen Njoroge Nderitu v Republic [2001] KECA 41 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Court of Appeal confirmed a 5-year sentence for selling another person's land and keeping buyers' money, after the seller admitted receiving the cash.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Questions the Court framed
#The issues the Court set itself to decide, in its own words.
- 1.Whether the appeal against conviction and the concurrent sentence of 5 years imprisonment should be allowed, the appellant having conceded receipt and use of the complainants' money
Key legal issues
#Whether the conviction for stealing by agent under section 283(b) of the Penal Code could stand on appeal
The appeal was dismissed because the appellant conceded at the hearing that he received and used money entrusted to him by the 12 complainants for the purchase of plots, and the concurrent 5-year sentence was lawful.
The appellant was charged on 12 counts of stealing by agent contrary to section 283(b) of the Penal Code, having sold 15 plots carved from land belonging to P.W.12 without authority. At the hearing of the second appeal he conceded receiving and using the purchasers' money, converting it to his own use. Given that concession, the dismissal of his first appeal by the High Court, and the legality of the sentence, the Court of Appeal found no basis to interfere and dismissed the appeal.
Legal principles established
#- On a second appeal, where the appellant concedes receipt and conversion of money entrusted to him and the sentence imposed is not illegal, the appeal must fail; the Court of Appeal will not disturb concurrent findings of the two courts below on such a concession.
Court orders
#- 1.The appeal is dismissed
- 2.The conviction and concurrent sentence of 5 years imprisonment imposed by the courts below are upheld
The bench
#One judgment of the whole court — no separate or dissenting opinions.
Wrote the judgment
Wrote the judgment
Wrote the judgment
- On appeal from
- High Court of Kenya at Nakuru
- H.C. Cr. Appeal No. 274 of 1999
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Second appeal to the Court of Appeal under the Criminal Procedure Code (appeal from dismissal of first appeal by the High Court)
Relief refused
#Allowance of the appeal against conviction and sentence
The appellant conceded receiving and converting to his own use money entrusted to him by the complainants, and the sentence was not illegal
Costs
No costs order recorded in the judgment
Quotable passages
#Verbatim from the judgment, each located to the page it appears on in the official PDF — so these can be cited and checked directly.
In these circumstances and this being a second appeal arising from the dismissal of his first appeal by the superior court and his concurrent sentence of 5 years imprisonment being not illegal, this appeal must fail and the same is dismissed.
the appellant conceded having received and used the money in respect of the 15 plots encompassed in the 12 counts of the offence set out above
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
- LN Property Development Co Ltd & another v Fidelity Commercial Bank Ltd (Civil Appeal 587 of 2019) [2026] KECA 1108 (KLR)[2026] KECA 1108 (KLR)12 Jun 2026
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Stephen Njoroge Nderitu v Republic [2001] KECA 41 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2001). Criminal Appeal No. 34 of 2001. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keca/2001/41/eng@2001-09-28
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.