Image: COURTESY
Embakasi East MP Babu Owino and self-styled ghetto president Calvin Gaucho have been granted a cash bail of Sh100,000 each.
Milimani chief magistrate Lukas Onyina in his ruling on Friday morning noted that the charge against the accused persons is punishable upon conviction for imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years.
Onyina added that one of the reasons advanced by the prosecution was that the witnesses were most likely to interfere with witnesses.
However, he said the prosecution was not clear on which of the accused persons would interfere with witnesses.
"A holistic look at the affidavit does not disclose compelling reasons to deny the accused persons bond. Each of the accused persons is granted a bond of Sh200,000 with an alternative cash bail of Sh100,000," 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 that 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 that are still ongoing and which would be prejudiced if they are released on bail.
The prosecution counsel urged the court to be pleased to deny each of the respondents bail and to detain the suspects pending the completion of the investigations.
The court heard the accused persons were a threat to national security.
"On dates between 7 day of July 2023 and 18 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 the court that the affidavit tabled by the prosecution to deny the accused persons bond is the same affidavit used from 2017 to 2022 to oppress members of the ruling class.
