Four suspects linked to the gas explosion tragedy which happened on February 1 at Mradi area Embakasi will spend another night in custody pending a ruling.
Milimani Magistrate Dolphine Alego will on Wednesday rule whether to detain or release them on bail.
The police through a miscellaneous application asked the court to grant them 21 days to detain the four suspects.
The four, include the proprietor of the illegal gas filling plant and three National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) officials, environmental compliance and enforcement officer, director and regional director of environment.
The director of criminal investigations, through investigation officer Isaac Tenei told the court that they are investigating four offences namely murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, neglect causing harm and offence of abuse of office.
The offences are alleged to have taken place on diverse dates between January 1, 2020 and February 2, 2024 with the licensing happening in 2022.
The state wants court to detain Derrick Kimathi, Joseph Makau, David Walunya Ong’are and Marrian Mutete kioko as they believe they will jeopardize the investigations if they are freed on bail.
“We received information that members of the public were furious and for the safety of the respondents I still insist to keep them” Kenei told court during cross examination.
Alego heard that the suspects went into hiding right after the incident, hindering the conclusion of investigations.
He added they resurfaced only after it was publicly announced that they were wanted individuals.
“Considering we have other people at large who are colleagues and we would want to have them separately to get their side of the story.”
Kenei acknowledged that the first, third and fourth suspects surrendered themselves to the police on February 5, however court heard that they only surrendered because the circumstances were so dire they had to surrender.
“At the moment it’s not possible for the investigations to continue while they are out of bail,” he said.
The court was told that people who died in the incident had severe injuries, some with burns making it hard to recognize them.
The court was told the authorities are struggling to find their relatives for identification and post-mortem procedures.
The scene at large, is filled with debris, and still being processed, and that more bodies might be found.
Kenei said that apart from the injured, there’s damage to property like vehicles and buildings, awaiting identification.
The defense on their part asked the court to throw away the application as there are no compelling reasons for the extension of the detention.
Defense counsel for the first suspect told the court that the application is misconceived, incompetent, and an abuse of due process, consuming unnecessary court time.
And that It lacks a proper legal foundation, violating essential principles.
He told the court that fears and concerns raised by the investigation officer lack tangible evidence and fundamental rights cannot be suppressed without concrete evidence.
Kavita, for the second respondent told the court that the suspect was arrested on February 4 and has been held at DCI Embakasi beyond the legally allowed 24 hours.
He said that apart from being interrogated for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm on February 5, with statements taken, the prosecution’s prolonged detention had already breached his constitutional rights.
“He suffers from ulcers, he had been incarcerated and the kind of food he has been given does not take into account of his condition.”
Dr Okubasu while submitting expressed his empathy, thoughts and prayers to the affected families.
Furthermore, he told the court that human lives are invaluable, and there is no ransom that can equate to their worth.
A fact the court acknowledged that was going to be one of the points it would rely on while making the ruling.
“I had expected moral solution under the circumstances. You could be a lawyer this side today and you could also be the other side tomorrow. These are Kenyans and we empathize closing our eyes and saying nothing happened wouldn’t be ideal” said Alego
The prosecution urged the court to grant them the 21 days pending investigations as they have demonstrated there were compelling reasons to the court.
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