Kilifi Speaker Teddy Mwambire, MP Ken Chonga freed after 5 days in police custody

A Mombasa Court on Monday freed on bond four Kilifi politicians who were charged with unlawful assembly for participating in last weeks' anti-government protests.

Kilifi South MP Ken Chonga, County Assembly speaker Teddy Mwambire and their two aides were freed after the court ruled that they cannot be deprived of their liberty based on flimsy reasons. 

They have been in police custody for five days.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku released the four while rejecting the state's claims that the four would interfere and or threaten witnesses when freed. 

The magistrate ruled that the prosecution did not advance compelling reasons to support the curtailing of the suspects’ freedom. 

"The application to deny bond is not merited. Therefore, the accused persons shall execute a bond of Sh100,000, with a surety in a similar sum, or on the alternative cash bail of Sh50,000 each,” said the magistrate. 

She added that the alleged attempts to intimidate, interfere with or compromise the witnesses as submitted by the state, has not been materially shown, therefore the allegations remained mere speculation. 

“The court must desist from making conclusions on guilt of the accused before trial and conviction,” she said. 

The magistrate said an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, therefore, such a person’s liberty should not be deprived over flimsy reasons. 

Mr Chonga and Mr Mwambire were charged together with former Mtepeni MCA Victor Katana Mwaganga and Mr Patrick Chiro Charo for participating in the demonstration called by Azimio la Umoja Coalition.

They were charged with participating in unlawful assembly.

They are alleged to have taken part in a procession (maandamano) on July 19 in Mtwapa, Kilifi County, where they are accused of chanting anti-government slogans thereby causing the public to reasonably fear that they were assembling to commit a breach of peace.

The leaders were arrested on Wednesday last week while demonstrating together with their supporters in Mtwapa. 

Police claimed that they had not issued a notification before commencing the demonstration as required by law hence their actions amounted to an illegality. 

The prosecution had wished the suspects to be detained until their trial was concluded. The state argued through Mr Alex Gituma that if the suspects were granted bail, they would interfere with witnesses. It was also feared that they would continue with demonstrations, hence endangering lives and property.

The court was also told the suspects would use their influence to obstruct justice. 

The suspects, however, put up a spirited fight against the state’s allegations, saying no compelling reasons were advanced to curtail their liberty. 

Through their lawyers Jared Magolo, Cliff Ombeta, Danstan Omari, Maurice Kilonzo, and Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki, the suspects urged the court to ignore and dismiss the state’s claims and grant them reasonable bail terms. 

The advocates submitted that the suspects had not threatened any of the witnesses and termed the offence as misdemeanor, for which a person does not need to be detained at all. 

The suspects eft the court’s precincts in Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir’s vehicle. 

Political leaders who addressed the media after the four suspects were released said the opposition will continue to demonstrate until the government addresses issues affecting Kenyans. 

The case will be mentioned on October 7. 

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