News

Joyce Akinyi Convicted For Drug Trafficking

Published

5 hours ago

November 22, 2024

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has achieved a significant victory in the fight against drug trafficking with the conviction of Joyce Akinyi and two accomplices in a case prosecuted at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) courts.

The prosecution team, led by Norah Achieng, Annette Wangia, and Faith Mwila, presented compelling evidence that Akinyi, along with her co-accused, Paulin Kalala, a Congolese national, and Peres Ochieng, were key figures in a meticulously planned transnational drug trafficking operation.

Akinyi was also found guilty of possessing a passport without providing a reasonable explanation, adding to the severity of her offences.

The court entered judgment in the absence of Peres Ochieng, who absconded during the trial after being placed on her defence.

Sentencing for the convicted individuals is set for December 10, 2024, marking the next step in delivering justice in this case.

Akinyi was previously married to Nigerian Anthony Chinedu who was unceremoniously deported under unclear circumstances.

Chinedu, who had been living in Kenya for over 17 years, shot into the limelight as a wealthy Nigerian tycoon embroiled in a bitter battle for property running into hundreds of millions of shillings with his estranged Kenyan wife, Akinyi, in 2008. And That’s when the rain started beating this flamboyant man who had been in and out of local headlines for almost seven years now.

The actual dates that Anthony flew in the country remain sketchy but from what is made public, Chinedu met and fell in love with Akinyi and together they had two children. Then, in 2004, the two decided to formalize their union at the Attorney General’s chambers, followed by a brief ceremony to celebrate their marriage. Soon, they embarked on a massive investment spree, building homes and running the popular Deepwest pub off Lang’ata Road. Then accusations of adultery, drug trafficking, and abandonment started flying, and everything went south from there.

The embattled Nigerian tycoon has in a previous interview, revealed on what transpired on the Sunday 2nd June 2019, a date that Kenya Police stormed his house at around 9 pm with what he termed as “operation kill Osama” riffles and roughed him up like a foreign rat to JKIA and, State officers ordered his immediate deportation.

Speaking to MediaMax journalists based from K24 TV, Chinedu stated that he had been living in Kenya for over 17 years and was never involved in drug trafficking.

Chinedu in an exclusive interview at his house in Ikeja Estate in leafy Lagos suburbs, blamed his ex-wife Akinyi of using state individuals using her Kenyan roots to bundle him up out of the country so that the named individuals could enjoy his hard-earned 17 years sweat that was valued at more than $20 million.

According to Chinedu, Akinyi, joined hands with the former Nairobi Langata area PCIO Nicholas Kamwende and one controversial Nigerian Ken Obinna and Budalangi MP Raphael Wanjala allegedly facilitated his deportation plan so that they could jointly sink his empire and divide amongst themselves.

In yet another suspicious revelation on the case, Chinedu told the K24 allied reporters that the Nigerian that he was deported with, Ken Obinna, did not even spend a night in Nigeria. His whereabouts remain unknown, but Chinedu says that Ken Obinna had been deported three times from Nairobi to Nigeria. Never stayed in Lagos and always flew back to Nairobi. “He is a Nigerian working with the Kenyan Police” Chinedu alleged.

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