Kilifi South MP, County Speaker to spend weekend behind bars

Muraya Kamunde
3 Min Read

Kilifi County Assembly Speaker Teddy Mwambire and Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga will spend the weekend behind bars after a Magistrate Court deferred the ruling on their bond application to Monday.

The two were among four individuals arrested on Wednesday during the anti-government demonstration in Mtwapa in Kilifi South, had already spent two nights behind bars.

The other two individuals are; Victor Katana (Chonga’s aide) and Patrick Chiro (Policy Analyst at the office of Kilifi Senator Stewart Madzayo).

The four had already spent two nights behind bars. At Kilifi Police Station on Wednesday night and at Shimo la Tewa Prison on Thursday night.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku, who was to deliver a ruling on whether the four should be released on bond or not, said she had not finished writing her ruling by Friday afternoon.

She cited time constraints and the lengthy submissions that had been made before the court by the prosecution and the defence.

She deferred the delivery of the ruling to Monday.

The four will now spend their weekend at Port Police Station in Mombasa.

This comes even after the same court released 15 other protesters who were arrested in Mombasa during the anti-government demonstration.

The 15 were each released on a Ksh 100,000 bond with a similar amount of surety or an alternative of Ksh 10,000 cash bail each.

The 15 were released after Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir and Mombasa Assembly Speaker Aharub Khatri paid Ksh 150,000 for their cash bail.

Mwambire, Chonga, Katana and Chiro were on Thursday afternoon charged with participating in unlawful assembly contrary to Section 78(1) as read with Section 79 of the Penal Code Chapter 63 of the laws of Kenya.

They are accused by the State of taking part in a procession and chanting anti-government slogans thereby causing members of the public to reasonably fear that they had assembled to commit a breach of peace.

However, they all denied the charges.

Reporting by Haniel Mengistu

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