Magistrate Frees Four Accused of Stoning Police in Anti-tax Protests Along Waiyaki Way

A Milimani Chief Magistrate’s court on July 3, released four men who allegedly assembled unlawfully and threw stones at anti-riot police officers along Waiyaki way while taking part in the anti-finance bill 2024 demonstrations.

The Director of Criminal Investigations through a miscellaneous application sought seven days to detain Henry Oringa, Mike Okoth, Augustin Shikuku and Joram Ndung’u pending investigations into unlawful assembly, obstructing Waiyaki way and throwing stones at anti-riot police officers on July 2.

While releasing them trial magistrate Wandia Nyamu held that the investigation officer was on a fishing expedition.

Nyamu also ruled that the “police should only arrest a person when they have prima facie evidence that an offence has been disclosed which can result in such a person being charged or likely offence being prosecuted in court, the police should do this because it’s the only reason the constitution says so.”

“The investigation officer can commence his investigations and arrest the people in the CCTV footage without having the respondent being held, I hereby order their immediate release and this file is closed,” ruled Wandia.

According to DCI through Benjamin Oreri, he needed seven days to detain the four who were arrested on July 2, to record witness statements and to obtain CCTV footage from Maguna’s Supermarket to identify if the suspects had taken part in the crime.

“I am making this application to seek custodial order so that the respondents here in be detained for seven days at Kabete police station to complete the remaining part of the investigations,” read the court documents.

The defence on their part opposed the detention of the four suspects

They urged the court to release them on a personal bond

They argued that the affidavit “is underwhelming in content and incapable of justifying the orders sought.”

“The exhaustion and anguish of being incarcerated in deplorable states risk rendering them incapable of standing trial, which will occasion a travesty of justice to the mass before you today,” the defence said.

The court agreed with the defence and freed the four.