Court orders extradition of Ugandan woman wanted in Kenya on drug trafficking charges
Ms Hellen Ikareut, a Ugandan national, appears in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court on June 24, 2025 during extradition proceedings to face drug trafficking charges in Kenya. PHOTO/JULIET KIGONGO
What you need to know:
- Ms Hellen Ikareut is accused of trafficking in narcotic drugs, an offence under Section 4(a)(ii) of Kenya’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act.
The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Kampala has ordered the extradition of a Ugandan woman wanted in Kenya to face drug trafficking charges.
In a ruling delivered on June 24, the Buganda Road Court, presided over by Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi, endorsed the arrest warrant issued by the Chief Magistrate's Court at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, paving the way for the extradition of Ms Hellen Ikareut, a Ugandan national currently detained at Luzira prison.
The ruling follows a request by the Kenyan government through its Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), citing Ikareut’s indictment in Criminal Case No. E067 of 2024.
She is accused of trafficking in narcotic drugs, an offence under Section 4(a)(ii) of Kenya’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act.
“The evidence presented by the applicant establishes sufficient legal and factual basis for the endorsement of the warrant of arrest and subsequent extradition of the respondent,” Magistrate Kayizzi ruled.
The extradition request, first received by Uganda’s Attorney General on October 12, 2024, included an authenticated warrant signed by Kenya’s DPP, Mr Renson M. Ingonga. Uganda’s court endorsed the request on April 15, and Ikareut was arrested the following day.
Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Vicky Nabisenke, representing the applicant, told court that Ikareut had evaded previous summons.
“Her phone went off immediately after she was contacted by police to report to CID headquarters in April,” Nabisenke said.
The prosecution also relied on a sworn affidavit by Detective Alan Kwerit, who confirmed that INTERPOL Uganda identified Ikareut when she attempted to collect her passport and national ID on April 4.
Ikareut, through her court-assigned counsel Francis Xavier Sserunjogi, opposed the extradition, arguing that the application was “premature, barred by law and filed in bad faith.”
In an affidavit dated May 12, she claimed she had never been formally charged in Kenya, had not received any official communication from Kenyan authorities, and feared her rights would be violated due to Kenya’s alleged systemic judicial shortcomings.
“I am sick and suffering from anaemia. The prison conditions in Kenya cannot sustain my medical needs,” she stated, attaching medical records to support her claim.
She also described the charges as "oppressive and unjust", claiming she faced a 50-year sentence or a KShs 500,000 fine—an amount she estimated at Shs 1 billion. The prosecution dismissed this as a “deliberately misleading exaggeration.”
In his ruling, Magistrate Kayizzi found that all legal conditions under Uganda’s Extradition Act (Cap 124) had been met, including the principle of specialty, which guarantees that a suspect can only be tried for the offence cited in the extradition request.
He noted that Ikareut was not facing any charges in Uganda and that the statutory 15-day period for committal had expired.
“The offence is not political in nature, and there is no evidence that the Kenyan request is in bad faith. Kenya has confirmed that she will be tried only for the offence of trafficking as stipulated,” he ruled.
He also dismissed her objections regarding systemic bias in the Kenyan judiciary as speculative and lacking proof.
“I find no reason to reject the application. The respondent is to be surrendered to the Republic of Kenya in accordance with the law,” Magistrate Kayizzi ruled.
The court made no orders on costs.
