Update 1.43 PM: Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi will be detained at Port Police Station until Wednesday, April 15 held the court.
Saburi was charged with failing to comply with a government directive on self-quarantine for individuals who had come into the country.
The judge also requested the prosecution to present documentation proving that Saburi had tested positive for Covid-19.
Saburi pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi will not be held at the Manyani Maximum Security Prison according to a ruling delivered on Thursday, April 9.
Senior Resident Magistrate Ritah Amwayi who heard the case dismissed the prosecution's application that Saburi be held at the Manyani Maximum Security Prison for 14 days as the trial continued.
"The court cannot order confinement of the accused as it would be in contravention of the law," stated Amwayi.
Amwayi noted that the court could not find any justification to hold Saburi at the prison as the facilities were not adequate to serve as an isolation centre.
"The idea cannot be that people ill with infectious diseases should be held at prison facilities," stated Amwayi.
She highlighted that holding a suspected Covid-19 carrier at the facility would contribute to the spread of the virus and not its control.
'Prison facilities are not envisaged as places of isolation for the purpose of controlling infectious diseases and in this case Covid-19," stated the judge.
She noted that the prison setting would be unsuitable to curbing the spread of the virus and would actually place other inmates at higher risk of infection if a carrier was isolated on the premises.
"Isolation of Covid-19 cases poses a risk to other inmates as prisons are crowded and the cells are not well-ventilated. It is, therefore, my view that a prison cannot be used as an isolation centre for a person who is sick," elaborated Amwayi
Amwayi also addressed the question of isolating the Kilifi Deputy Governor stating that prosecution had failed to show that Saburi was suffering from Covid-19 and hence needed to be isolated.
"The court also noted that the prosecution could not produce critical medical documents that were necessary to justify the confinement of the applicant," provided Amwayi
"It is my finding that the court has not been convinced that the applicant be placed under isolation for 14 days," resolved the judge.
The court dismissed the application with costs.
