MP Barasa fails to block probe into fake ‘captain’ title
Kimilili MP Didmus Wekesa Barasa.
Kimilili MP Didmus Wekesa Barasa has failed in his bid to block the state from investigating him for alleged impersonation of a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer.
Mr Barasa wanted the High Court in Nairobi to quash a letter sent to him by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) seeking to question him after he claimed to be a retired captain of the Kenya Air Force.
He also wanted the court to bar any possible prosecution in connection with the alleged impersonation.
However, Justice Esther Maina dismissed the petition, saying: “This is a petition that I find to be an abuse of the court process. If indeed Mr Barasa retired as he says he did, then there is nothing difficult for him to prove he retired from whatever position he claims in the military.”
In the short ruling read yesterday, the judge said there was no illegality or irrationality in the letter sent to the MP.
EACC had argued that the lawmaker was misusing the military title ‘captain’ since investigations had established that he never earned that title during his service at the military between 2007 and 2009.
In the letter dated September last year, EACC had also cautioned the MP that the continued use of the title constitutes a criminal offence under the Penal Code and Leadership and Integrity Act.
It said the lawmaker was liable for prosecution for giving false and misleading information to the public.
The EACC claimed that Mr Barasa left the military at the rank of a private, and not as captain, following his dismissal in 2009. It restated that Mr Barasa had, however, continued to introduce himself as a retired captain of the Kenya Air Force.
Since his election in 2017, the controversial politician has been having run-ins with law enforcement agencies.
Recently, he was in trouble with the police after he branded a motor vehicle owned by the National Government Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) with his campaign posters.
He was alleged to have branded the vehicle in United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party colours, his pictures and those of Deputy President William Ruto. He was also said to have removed the GK registration plates and affixed the registration number KBS 709D.
Last August, he was arraigned in court on charges of grievous bodily harm against a local contractor following a scuffle where he was caught on camera slapping the contractor at Baptist Lurare Primary School in Kamukuywa.
The scuffle ensued after the contractor locked up five classrooms, preventing Mr Barasa from officially opening them. The contractor demanded to be paid Sh3.4 million, which had been used to renovate the classrooms. Mr Barasa denied the charge and was released on a cash bail of Sh100,000.
In August 2020 the MP was arraigned at a Magistrate’s Court in Kajiado for fraud.
He was charged with obtaining Sh450,000 from John Irungu Mwangi after pretending he was in a position to sell him a car. Mr Barasa was also accused of fraudulently disposing of a mortgage of an unknown amount. He denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh100,000.
