Two managers of Patel Estates, owners of the dam will be spending the night in police cells after being charged with manslaughter in a Naivasha court.
The estates' Managing Director Perry Mansukh Kansagara and General Manager Vinoj Jaya Kumar were detained pending the bond ruling on Friday.
On Thursday the two alongside Nakuru County Water Director Johnson Njuguna appeared before Naivasha Principal Magistrate Joseph Karanja and faced 47 counts of manslaughter each.
Kansagara faced two more counts of neglect for failing to present an environmental impact assessment report of the dam and others in the expansive farm in Solai, while Njuguna also faced one more count of neglect of duty.
[caption caption="Patel dam in Nakuru"]
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Prosecutor Catherine Mwaniki asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for six people who had not been charged as directed by DPP Noordin Haji.
Mwaniki further opposed the release on bond of the three arguing they were flight risks and they can easily influence the judicial process.
The prosecutor further argued that because the matter was of public interest, the three should be denied bond.
However, lawyer Evans Monari for the Patel Estate managers asked the court to grant his clients reasonable bond arguing it was their constitutional right.
“The bond terms are guided by the strict tenets of the Kenyan Constitution,” Monari told the court.
[caption caption="Solai area after the dam burst its banks killing 47 people"]
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The court ruled that the three be remanded at the Naivasha Police Station until tomorrow when the court will give further orders and directions.
