Ex-diplomat, three others jailed for 20 years for killing Venezuelan Ambassador to Kenya

Former Venezuelan diplomat Dwight Sagaray and three Kenyans found guilty of killing Venezuela's Ambassador to Kenya Olga Fonseca in July 2012 have each been sentenced to 20 years behind bars.

The sentence will run from January 2023 being the day of their conviction.

The four; Sagaray, Ahmed Mutivane Omindo, Alex Sifuna Wanyonyi, and Moses Kiprotich Kalya, were found guilty of planning and executing the murder of Fonseca who was found strangled in her official residence in Runda.

Five persons had initially been arraigned in connection to the incident but one, Kipng'eno Kirui Chelogoi, was acquitted as the prosecution did not prove his involvement in the planned murder.

Chelogoi, who worked as a guard in the neighbouring Turkish Embassy, convinced the court that he had no relationship with the rest of the accused persons.

His only mistake was handling a mobile phone he picked on the road that belonged to the deceased.

Justice Roselyn Korir, in January, acquitted Chelogoi for lack of sufficient evidence linking him to his co-accused persons and the scene of crime.

Fonseca is believed to have been murdered following a heightened power struggle with Sagaray who served as an acting Ambassador prior to her deployment to head the mission.

She was murdered barely a month after reporting for duty in the country.