Four men fined Ksh.1M for attempting to sell elephant tusks worth Ksh.1.6M

Four men were on Tuesday convicted at the Makindu Law Courts in Makueni County, for conspiring to sell two elephant tusks valued at Ksh.1.6 million without a permit in 2017.

Senior Principal Magistrate Benson Ireri ordered the quartet, Joshua Mwengea Mwanzia, Mashuba Ivuti, Tito Munguti and Muema Kamuti, to pay a fine of Ksh.1 million each or in default serve five years behind bars for their offences.

"On 18th June 2017, KWS officers were alerted that four people in Kibwezi township were looking for a buyer to sell elephant tusks, after which they were ambushed and arrested," the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said in a statement on X.    

While delivering the verdict, Ireri ruled that the four witnesses presented by the prosecution, led by Catherine Ngari, proved beyond all doubt that the accused persons were guilty of the said infractions.