Babu, Gaucho Released on Sh100,000 Cash Bail

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has been released on a Sh100,000 cash bail.

The lawmaker who was arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday evening was on Thursday charged with subversion.

Also released was Bunge la Wananchi President Clavin Okoth alias Gaucho.

Milimani chief magistrate Lukas Onyina on Friday noted that the charge against the accused persons attracts a jail term not exceeding seven years.

Onyina said one of the reasons advanced by the prosecution was that the accused are most likely to interfere with witnesses.

However, he said the prosecution was not clear which of the accused persons would interfere with witnesses.

Read: Babu, Gaucho Arraigned, Charged with Conspiracy to Cause Chaos

“A wholistic look at the affidavit does not disclose compelling reasons to deny the accused persons bond, each of the accused persons is granted bond of Sh200,000 with an alternative cash bail of Sh100,000,” he said.

Also released on bond are Tom Odondo, Michael Otieno, Pascal Ouma, Kevin Wambo and Willys Owino.

On Thursday, the accused persons entered a not guilty plea.

The court heard that the seven individuals 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.

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The State counsel urged the court to deny each of the Respondents bail, and to or order their detention pending the completion of investigations.

The court heard the accused persons are a threat to national security

“On dates between 7 day of July 2023 and 18 day at July 2023, people reasonably believed to be the Respondents’ accomplices not only gathered unlawfully but also rioted in various part 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 mobiles 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 prosecution argued that there is also a likelihood of additional charges being preferred against each of the Respondents upon conclusion of the ongoing investigations.

The defence through lawyers Danstan Omari, Dancun Okatch, Ndegwa Njiru among others told the court that the arrest and prosecution of the seven accused persons was ethnic profiling.

Read Also: Babu Owino Detained at Wanguru Police Station in Kirinyaga – Wife Discloses

According to the lawyers, the affidavit tabled by prosecution to deny the accused persons bond is the same affidavit used in 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 was held at the Milimani Law Courts basement cells before being arraigned in court minutes to 5:00pm.

He had been detained at Wang’uru police station in Kirinyaga county for more than 24 hours.