Nairobi County Assembly Speaker Benson Mutura was on Friday arraigned in court after spending the night in custody over theft allegations.
The Speaker was detained on Thursday after honouring summons by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations at the DCI headquarters on Kiambu Road.
Appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Kimilu Mutura on Friday morning, Mutura was charged with Ksh5 million theft.
According to the prosecution, Mutura stole as a servant by making impress of trips he never made. He allegedly committed the offence in February 2021.
“On diverse dates between the 1st day of February 2021 and 28th February 2022 in Nairobi City County, being the speaker of the County Assembly stole Ksh.5,348,984 the property of the County Government of Nairobi which came into possession by virtue of your employment,” read court charges.
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Mutura’s lawyers, while pleading with the court to grant the accused bail, claimed that the Speaker’s arrest was political and one meant to embarrass him.
The magistrate released Mutura on Ksh500,000 cash bail or Ksh1 million bond. The matter will be mentioned on May 16, 2022.
Mutura had on Wednesday termed his attempted arrest at City Hall as a political witchhunt. He claimed that he is targeted for endorsing Deputy President William Ruto’s presidential bid.
The former Makadara MP defected to Ruto’s United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party early this month, severing links with the ruling Jubilee party ahead of the August 9 General Election.
He, however, said he would not seek any elective seat in the forthcoming polls.
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“I’m not contesting for any political seat. I will perform tasks and duties assigned by the UDA party,” he said.
Mutura was sworn in as Speaker in August 2020. He took over from Beatrice Elachi who quit after a protracted leadership row in the assembly.
In 2021, he acted as governor after a power vacuum that arose following the impeachment of Mike Sonko.
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