BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
A member of the Nairobi County Assembly (MCA) Peter Owera Oluoch accused of killing the body guard of a Mathare’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) parliamentary aspirant lawyer Antony Oluoch has been released on a Sh300,000 cash bail.
Although Owera and six others were freed on bond he was ordered to cooperate with the police who are investigating , the court heard that eight witness did not “ identify him (owera) as one of the killers of Daniel Okumu Ogongo during an alleged illegal rally at Huruma Grounds in Starehe sub-county.”
And at the same tima defence lawyer Harun Ndubi alleged that a colleague (oluoch) who vying for the Mathare Parliamentary seat was impressing upon him not to defend but “ foregore the legal fees he was to be paid by the suspects then bite the bullet by abandoning them.”
At the same time Mr Ndubi told the magistrate that political undertones were behind the arrest of Owera, who is the ODM MCA for Huruma so that “ nominations for the seat can be done when he is in detention.”
Mr Ndubi said Mr Oluoch who is vying for the Mathare Parliamentary seat is attempting to hinder the seven from their constitutional right of being defended by an advocate of their choice.
Impressing upon senior resident magistrate to release Owera on bond , Mr Ndubi said “ eight witnesses failed to identify the MCA as one of the attackers of the deceased-Ogongo.”
Trial magistrate Ms Hellen Onkwani was told Owera and the other suspects are not a threat to the investigations as “ no allegations were made that they would interfere with the witnesses.”
A state prosecutor Ms Lincy Mugambi said that the offence being investigated was serious as “ somebody lost his life during an illegal rally convened at Huruma grounds on March 26 by Owera.”
The deceased was stabbed with a knife during a melee and succumbed to the injuries.
In her ruling , Ms Onkwani said although the allegation against the suspects is serious as it involves loss of life Article 49 (1) (h) gives her discretion to admit the supects to bond while investigations are underway.
She directed police to finalise the investigations within 14 days.
The magistrate directed the case be mentioned on April 12, 2017 for the investigating officer to report to her whether he has finalised his probe into the incident.
