Wednesday, March 6, 2024 – Residents of Naivasha were outraged by an incident in which 19 people were arrested for mistakenly passing through the land belonging to President William Ruto.
The 19 were arraigned at
Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on Tuesday and accused of trespassing on Ruto’s
farm.
They were also accused
of destroying the farm’s barbed fence on February 29, 2024, damaging the
property valued at Ksh2.2 million.
The accused, including one
woman, will spend the night at the Lang'ata police station, awaiting the
court's decision.
Police officers investigating
the case recommended that the suspects be detained for 14 days as the police
launched investigations to gather facts surrounding the incident.
"There has been a lot of
public outrage with some members of the public trying to storm the police
station at Naivasha Sub County to rescue the respondents and consequently
remove them from safe custody and avert the due process of the law,"
investigating officer John Kinyongie’s affidavit reads in part.
The respondents’ lawyer, Mbugua
Muriithi, has accused the police of using land grabbers and
politicians to punish innocent Kenyans, adding that the 19 arraigned were
innocent of the charges.
Mbugua further challenged the
court and the investigating officers to arraign the suspects in a Nakuru court,
as per the jurisdiction, instead of opting for Milimani Law Courts.
“The 19 were arrested in
Naivasha, I don’t see why they can’t be detained at Naivasha police station,”
Mbugua argued
“They have no relatives in
Nairobi. Detaining them in Nairobi will essentially render them IDPs,” he
added.
Nairobi Magistrate Gilbert
Shikwe ordered the 19 to be held at the Lang’ata police station until Wednesday
when he will issue orders moving forward.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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