Boniface Mwangi,4 others released on Sh20,000 cash bail

Activist Boniface Mwangi and four others accused of publishing false information have been released on Sh20,000 cash bail each as police continue with investigations.

Milimani principal magistrate Gilbert Shikwe ruled that the police application did not give compelling reasons to have them detained for 21 days.

Mwangi was released alongside Albert Wambugu, Robert Otieno, Pablo Chacha and Erot Franco.

“Having considered submissions by both the prosecution and the defence, I find that there are no compelling grounds to deny the accused bail. I hereby grant them a cash bail of Sh20,000 each,” the magistrate ruled.

The case will be mentioned on August 26.

The five are being investigated for alleged publication of false material, taking part in an unlawful assembly and creating a disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.

In a miscellaneous application filed in court, the detectives are seeking custodial orders to complete a probe into the aforementioned crimes.

“I pray this honourable court to issue custodial orders authorising holding of the respondents in the applicant’s custody for 21 days to enable the applicant to conclude its investigations,” officer George Karanja said.

The officer claims that on Thursday, July 25, 2024, at around 11:30 am or thereabout at CBD, along Koinange Street, Nairobi, the five caused a breach of peace.

The DCI alleges that Mwangi and the others inconvenienced other road users by blocking the road by placing a white coffin and seven white crosses with names inscribed on them.

The DCI further claims that the five were distributing T-shirts and placards allegedly labelled with incitement words.

“The respondents through various social media platforms posted allegations that the government was out to kill its citizens which words were deemed and construed that the government was perpetrating extrajudicial killings; posts which incited the members of the public causing a breach of peace,” the DCI told the court.

The investigators told the court that investigations are already ongoing with a view to establishing the motive of carrying the assorted items that Mwangi and the others were arrested with.

Additionally, the investigations are ongoing to establish where the white coffins and the white crosses were sourced from and who the financier is.

The DCI stated that the place of abode of the five is unascertained and releasing them may jeopardise the investigations.

The suspects through their lawyers opposed to their continued detention.

The lawyers argued that the police produced the suspects in court without a holding charge by prosecution hence the application for their continued detention lacks basis. 

They urged the court to release all the suspects on bail pending conmpletion of investigations. 

“The suspects have no past criminal records and the fifth suspect’s brother met his death in protest and the body is currently preserved at City mortuary; detaining him for 21 days will bar him from attending brother’s funeral,” the court heard.