NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 28 — The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Aloys Owino Owegi challenging a High Court decision that upheld his conviction for corruption, ruling that there was no abuse of discretion in declining to reinstate his withdrawn appeal.A three-judge bench comprising Justices Patrick Kiage, Jamila Mohammed, and Weldon Korir ruled that Owegi’s application to set aside an order withdrawing his appeal at the High Court was properly rejected, noting that his claim of a “mistaken withdrawal” was implausible.“This latter narrative was implausible and a perfect example of an afterthought akin to buyer’s remorse,” the judges stated in a decision on Friday.Owegi, who had been convicted by the Nairobi Anti-Corruption Court in 2007 on two counts of corruption and fined Sh25,000 on each count, lodged an appeal to the High Court more than five years later.On February 25, 2016, his lawyer on record informed Justice Luka Kimaru that she had instructions to withdraw the appeal — a position not opposed by the State. The court marked the appeal as withdrawn, upheld the conviction, and closed the file.Months later, Owegi moved to the High Court seeking to set aside that withdrawal, claiming that his counsel had misunderstood her instructions, which were allegedly limited to seeking time allocation for the hearing. Justice Mutuku dismissed the application, prompting the present appeal.Applied ‘consciously and lucidly’ In rejecting Owegi’s appeal, the Court of Appeal held that the High Court had exercised its discretion properly.“The advocate having consciously and lucidly applied to withdraw the appeal, and opposing counsel having consented to the withdrawal, we think it is too much of a stretch for the appellant to come up with the alternative narrative months later,” the bench ruled.The court also observed that the appeal had been significantly delayed by the appellant’s conduct, describing him as “indolent” in prosecuting his case.“We have been given no reason upon which we can fault the learned judge’s exercise of discretion. Thus, even though we could have struck out this appeal, we find that it is without merit. It is accordingly dismissed in entirety,” the court affirmed.