One of Kenya's most famous British aristocrats, Tom Cholmondeley has been set free after five months of incarceration at the Kamiti Maximum Prison over the killing of stonemason Robert Njoya.

Officials said Mr Cholmondeley is among the 7,000 prisoners set free under the Presidential pardon during the Kenyatta Day celebrations.

Commissioner of Prisons Isaiah Osugo confirmed the release and said it's common to release prisoners if they have just a few months left to serve.

The 40 year-old Lord Delamere's grandson was sentenced in May 2009 by High Court judge Mr Justice Muga Apondi for eight months in jail for manslaughter in the killing of Robert Njoya hunting for game meat on Cholmondeley's 56,000-acre farm.

Mr Njoya was shot dead at Cholmondeley's Soysambu ranch in Naivasha on May 10, 2006.

In his judgement, Justice Muga Apondi found that Mr Cholmondeley shot and killed Mr Njoya three years ago, but spared him death by hanging because a murder charge could not be sustained.

Justice Apondi further noted that Cholmondeley did not have malice aforethought, meaning he never premeditated the killing as he did not have any grudge against Mr Njoya.

The judge said the trial had subjected Cholmondeley to the due process of law.

The aristocrat had already spent 3 years at the Kamiti Maximum Prison during the trial period as murder, being a capital offence is a non bailable.

Meanwhile, the Leader of the outlawed Mungiki sect is now a free man.

Njenga was set free by the Nyeri High court following an order by the Attorney General to terminate the murder charges preferred against him and 21 others charged alongside him.

Nyeri High Court Judge Joseph Seregon said he terminated the case following orders from the AG, Amos Wako.

In Thursday's hearing, Njenga suffered a setback when the High Court ruled that he should plead to the murder charges against him.

His lawyer, Robert Asembo, had made a spirited attempt to convince Justice Sergon not to proceed before two applications filed in the High Court in Nairobi and Nyeri were heard.

Njenga chose not to plead to the 29 counts which relate to the killings that occurred in Mathira, saying the case was fabricated as he was in Mombasa when the Mathira massacre took place.

The sect leader has since May declined to plead to 29 counts of murder, citing the Nairobi application.

State counsel James Makura said it was invalid for Njenga to challenge the legality of charges he had not pleaded to.

Elsewhere, suspect stunned a Kapsabet court when he pleaded with the magistrate to jail him for life for torching houses during post election violence early last year.

The suspect, who was appearing before the court for a second time with similar allegations, told the court that his life was in danger for participating in the 2007 post election violence.

Clement Wafula, who appeared before Kapsabet Senior Resident magistrate, Gerald Mutiso, had been arraigned before the court to face charges of being drank and disorderly but instead insisted that he be charged with arson and be jailed for life.

He told the court that he had received threatening messages from the victims of post election violence and that his safety could only be guaranteed if he was jailed for life.

The trial magistrate had earlier ordered that the accused be examined by a psychiatrist to ascertain his mental health.

The results of the tests established that the accused was of sound mind and fit to stand trial.

The accused was remanded in custody until November 4th when the case comes up for ruling.