Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and self-styled ghetto president Calvin Okoth well known as Gaucho have finally been set free after hours of incommunicado detection.
Milimani chief magistrate Lukas Onyina in his ruling this morning noted that the affidavit filed by the prosecution in opposition to the bond did not hold any water.
He further noted that the charge against the accused persons is punishable upon conviction for imprisonment for a term not exceeding 7 years.
Hon. Onyina added that one of the reasons advanced by the prosecution was that the convicts are most likely to interfere with witnesses, however, the prosecution failed to disclose which of the accused persons would tamper with evidence.
“A holistic look at the affidavit does not disclose compelling reasons to deny the accused persons bond, each of the accused persons is granted bond of Sh 200,000 with an alternative cash bail of Sh 100,000,” the magistrate ruled.
Also released on bond are Tom Odondo, Michael Otieno, Pascal Ouma, Kevin Wambo and Willys Owino.
On Thursday Babu Owino and Gaucho denied conspiring to commit subversive activities which are prejudicial to public order.
They allegedly committed the offence on dates between July 7 and 23, 2023 with others not before court within Nairobi City County.
The prosecution had opposed their release on bail stating that there are other aspects of the investigations the subject of the charges which are still ongoing and which would be prejudiced if they are released on bail.
The prosecution counsel urged Court to be pleased to deny each of the Respondents bail and to order their detention pending the completion of investigations on the basis of the instant charges.
The court also heard the accused persons are a threat to national security.
“On dates between the 7th day of July 2023 and 18th day of July 2023, people reasonably believed to be the Respondents’ accomplices not only gathered unlawfully but also rioted in various parts of Nairobi County thereby committing a number of penal offences as charged in the instant charges,” the DPP submitted.
Upon effecting arrests of the respondents, we recovered mobile phones paired with sim cards from each of the Respondents which are already being analyzed for purposes of forensic evidence to be used in proof of the instant charges.
The DPP argued that there is also a likelihood of additional charges being preferred against each of the Respondents upon the conclusion of the ongoing investigations.
The defence through lawyers Danstan Omari, Dancun Okatch, Ndegwa Njiru among others told Court that the arrest and prosecution of the seven accused persons is a pure Ethnic profiling.
According to the lawyers, the affidavit tabled by the prosecution to deny the accused person’s bond is the same affidavit used from 2017 to 2022 to oppress members of the ruling class.
The defence in rebuttal said that all the seven accused persons are members of the Azimio coalition and that they all come from the Luo Ethnic community.
Babu who was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and detained incommunicado was held at the Milimani Law Courts basement cells before being arraigned in Court minutes to 5:00 pm.
