Judgment
The appellant was at the material time on retirement leave from the Kenya Army after 15 years’ service. He was charged with, and, according to the record, purported to plead guilty to, the offence of possessing a total of 988 rounds of assorted ammunition without a valid certificate under section 4(1) of the Firearms Act (cap 114) of the Laws of Kenya.
He did not at that time claim to be covered by any exemption, nor do any of the exemptions listed in section 7 of that Act apply to him.
His first appeal to the High Court was summarily rejected notwithstanding that the petition of appeal to that court contained at least two points of law, namely that appellant was still subject only to military law, and that the proceedings were not held in open court. Whether either of those grounds would have succeeded does not concern us on the second appeal, because, as learned state counsel concedes, the appeal should have been properly heard and determined by the first appellate court as i…