Kenya: Court to Hear U.S. Bid to Extradite Kenyan Convicted of Manslaughter

What the report says

A Milimani court in Nairobi is handling a U.S. request to extradite Kenyan national Sancho Kibutu, also known as Sancho Kibuto and Njoroge Kibutu, after his conviction in California for gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. According to the material cited by Capital FM and distributed by AllAfrica, the U.S. request was received by Kenya’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which has now been told to file a formal extradition application.

Trial Magistrate Theresa Nyangena directed the prosecution to submit and serve the application so that Kibutu and the defence can see the basis of the request and respond. The prosecution said the California conviction was entered in absentia on April 30, 2013, and that Kibutu left the United States on September 11, 2013, shortly before a judgment was expected. The court was also told he has remained outside the United States for about 13 years.

Kibutu’s lawyer opposed an immediate remand request, arguing that his client has not been charged or convicted in Kenya and should first be given the formal papers and evidence supporting extradition. The court later ordered that he be held at Gigiri Police Station while the matter proceeds. The case is scheduled to return on September 15 to assess progress on the extradition filing.

The hearing matters because it will test whether Kenya’s legal requirements for extradition are met and whether Kibutu can be surrendered to face the California case. As reported, the underlying foreign conviction is not being reopened in Kenya; the local court is focused on the extradition process itself.