By Andrew Kariuki
The High Court in Garissa has dismissed an application by a Mandera woman seeking to have the remainder of her prison sentence converted to a non-custodial term, ruling that the court lacks jurisdiction to review the sentence at this stage.
In a ruling delivered on March 17, 2026, Justice J.N. Onyiego declined the application filed by Jamila Maalim Hussein Eymoi, who had asked the court to consider releasing her on probation, citing rehabilitation, remorse and family responsibilities.
Eymoi was initially charged before the Mandera Law Courts in Criminal Case No. E163 of 2021 with offences relating to possession of a firearm and ammunition without a valid certificate, as well as unlawful entry into Kenya. The prosecution had told the trial court that she was found on April 20, 2021, at Busley in Mandera East Sub-County in possession of an AK-47 rifle loaded with 13 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.
She was convicted on the first two counts and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for possession of a firearm and 10 years for possession of ammunition, while she was acquitted on the charge of unlawful entry.
Dissatisfied with the decision, she appealed before the High Court in Criminal Appeal No. E050 of 2022, where the court reduced the 20-year sentence to seven years while maintaining the 10-year term, ordering that the sentences run concurrently from August 1, 2022.
She later filed another application in 2025 seeking review of the sentence, which the court dismissed save for a reduction equivalent to the time she had spent in remand custody.
In her latest application dated December 19, 2025, Eymoi urged the court to review her sentence once more and allow her to serve the remainder under probation, stating that she had reformed, was remorseful and needed to return home to care for her five children.
However, the prosecution opposed the application, arguing that the court had already determined the matter and was therefore functus officio and further maintained that the offences were serious and did not warrant a non-custodial sentence.
In his ruling, Justice Onyiego agreed with the prosecution, holding that once a court has pronounced itself on a sentence, it cannot revisit the matter unless through an appellate process.
The judge noted that the applicant had already exercised her right of appeal and had even filed a similar application previously, terming the latest application an abuse of the court process.
“Once a judge or judicial officer has pronounced a sentence, he or she becomes functus officio,” the court held.
The court consequently dismissed the application for lack of merit, leaving the earlier sentence in force.
