Court Sentences KDF Officer To 7 Years Imprisonment For Rhino Horn Trafficking
A court in Homa Bay has sentenced a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer and two accomplices to seven years in prison each after they were found guilty of dealing in a wildlife trophy.
KDF officer Bernard Omondi and his two co-accused were convicted after they were found in possession of a 2.9-kilogram rhino horn in Rodi Kopany Township in Homa Bay County on January 1, 2025.
The Homa Bay court heard that the trio had been arrested following a security operation mounted after authorities received intelligence from members of the public about an alleged unlawful wildlife trade in the area.
According to the prosecution, officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), and regular police officers coordinated the operation that led to the arrest of the suspects.
The three men were subsequently charged under the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act and faced two counts relating to dealing in and possessing a wildlife trophy.
On the first count of dealing in a wildlife trophy, Homa Bay Senior Resident Magistrate Christine Auka sentenced each of the accused to seven years in prison.
On the second count of possession of a wildlife trophy, the court fined each of the convicts Ksh3 million, with a default sentence of five years in prison should they fail to pay the fine.
The court further directed that the sentences will run consecutively, meaning the convicts will serve the jail terms separately if the fines are not settled.
Magistrate Auka also ordered the owner of the vehicle used in transporting the rhino horn to appear before the court on March 18, this year, to explain why the vehicle should not be forfeited to the state.
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Investigators revealed that the suspects had been holed up inside a hotel in Rodi Kopany when officers stormed the premises and arrested them during the operation.
During the arrest, detectives recovered the rhino horn weighing 2.9 kilograms, which authorities believe could be worth millions of shillings on the illegal wildlife market.
Police also seized a black Toyota Kluger believed to have been used to transport the horn.
Meanwhile, detectives suspect the trophy may have originated from the nearby Ruma National Park.
Court Sentences KDF Officer To 7 Years Imprisonment For Rhino Horn Trafficking
