REPUBLIC OF KENYA IN THE HIGH COURT OF KENYA AT NYAMIRA HCCRMISCAPPL E047 OF 2025 BETWEEN JOEL ANDANYI.............................................................................APPLICANT AND REPUBLIC..................................................................................RESPONDENT RULING 1. The applicant was convicted in Nyamira Criminal Case 854 OF 2020 three counts of burglary contrary to section 304(2) of the Penal Code and stealing contrary to section 279(b) of the Penal Code. On 12th August 2021, the trial court sentenced him to serve four (4) years' imprisonment on each count and expressly ordered that the sentences would run concurrently. 2. The applicant has moved this Court seeking review on the ground that he has reformed. 3. I have examined the proceedings, the sentencing order and the committal warrant. The record leaves no doubt that the trial magistrate ordered the sentences imposed on the three counts to run concurrently. The contrary indication in the committal warrant is plainly a clerical or administrative error which does not reflect the judgment of the court. 4. A committal warrant is intended to give effect to the sentence pronounced by the court. It cannot vary, enlarge or contradict the sentence imposed in open court. Where a discrepancy exists between the judgment and the warrant of
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commitment, the judgment prevails and the warrant must be corrected to conform to it. 5. The error in the committal warrant has regrettably resulted in the applicant serving a longer period of imprisonment than that lawfully imposed. The Court sincerely apologizes to the applicant for the error, which ought not to have occurred. 6. Accordingly, the application is merited and is hereby allowed and it is hereby ordered that: 1) The committal warrant dated 12th August 2021 issued in Nyamira Criminal Case 854 OF 2020 is rectified to reflect that the sentences of four (4) years' imprisonment on each of the three counts shall run concurrently, in accordance with the sentence pronounced by the trial court. 2) The Officer in Charge of the prison where the applicant is held shall forthwith amend the prison records to conform with the rectified committal warrant. 3) As the applicant has already served the lawful sentence imposed by the trial court, he shall be released forthwith from lawful custody unless otherwise lawfully held. DELIVERED AT NYAMIRA THIS 2026 WAMAE.T. W. CHERERE JUDGE 09th DAY OF July
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Appearances Court Assistant - Hilda Applicant - Present For the DPP - Mr. Chirchir (SADPP)
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