Reprieve for cat meat seller as High Court reduces jail sentence

James Kimani Mukangu, who confessed to selling cat meat to samosa vendors in Nakuru got reprieve on Tuesday after the High Court reduced his sentence to two years.

He had been given a three-year jail term after pleading guilty to charges of slaughtering an animal not fit for human consumption.

Also Read: Mukangu the cat meat seller

This was after he appealed the decision by Nakuru Chief Magistrate Benard Mararo.

On June 25, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the first count of willingly slaughtering a cat for human consumption with an alternative fine of Ksh.200,000.

The magistrate also handed him one year or a fine of Ksh.50,000 for a second charge of slaughtering the animal in an undesignated place contrary to Section 2 of the Meat Control Act.

In his appeal, Mukangu told the court that he was convicted unfairly as he was given a maximum sentence for the first count while the fine for the second count was excessive.

State Counsel Jackson Motende however defended the decision by the court saying that the magistrate had acted within the law while considering the circumstances that led to the offense.

He however admitted that the sentence for the second count was excessive.

“This is a case where a person had been slaughtering and selling cat meat to the public for seven years and I would urge the court to not interfere with the sentence for the first count. The prosecution however has no problem with the review of the second count,” he said.

Justice Joel Ngugi in his ruling ordered that the two sentences be served concurrently.

“The court has reviewed your sentence and you will now serve two years in prison,” Justice Ngugi ruled.

Mukangu was arrested on June 21 for skinning a cat on land that belongs to Kenya Railways Corporation.

He confessed to having slaughtered over 1,000 cats and selling the meat to unsuspecting samosa vendors and hotels within the town since 2012.

Mukangu also claimed to have a market for cat skin, where he was paid Ksh.500 for every delivery.