UPDATE Thursday, April 16: Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi's application for bail was finally approved.
The embattled DG was released on a Ksh 200,000 or alternative of Ksh 500,000 bond and ordered to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The judge ruled that the DG was to be set free because it was his constitutional right and that he had also been released by the hospital after testing negative for Covid-19 virus.
Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi has claimed that he never contracted the virus that forms the basis of a case that may see him spend 10 years behind bars.
According to a report by K24 Digital, the DG, through his lawyer George Kithi, argued in a Mombasa court on Wednesday, April 15, that he was not a carrier of the virus and that the state had no grounds to detain him.
The accused claimed that he never submitted samples for testing to Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) which later showed that he had contracted the virus.
He also pointed out that when he was tested at the Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH), the results came back negative.
“Your honour, we can confirm that my client did not submit any samples to KEMRI, which diagnosed him with COVID-19. Tests conducted on my client at the Coast Provincial General Hospital (CPGH) two days later showed that he was COVID-19 negative.
“Your honour, miracles do happen, but, in my client’s case, how would you explain this: his samples tested by KEMRI [on the first occasion], indicated he was COVID-19 positive, then two days later, another test by CPGH confirms him to be coronavirus negative?” Questioned the lawyer.
Kithi further claimed that the reports were aimed at tarnishing his client's name.
To prove his case, the lawyer presented a document to the court showing that Saburi had tested negative for the virus on Saturday, March 31.
“My client has never met the doctor who signed a report on his COVID-19 test outcome, which confirmed him to be positive for the virus,” he added.
The prosecutor, on the other hand, argued that Saburi could not be released because his life is in danger claiming that Kilifi residents were angered by his supposed lack of adherence to safety rules.
“Doctors’ and the KEMRI reports cannot be taken lightly (by this court). The accused should not belittle the documents. There will come a time when the doctor [who confirmed Saburi as COVID-19 positive] will be given the opportunity to explain his findings before the court,” argued the prosecutor.
In the past, President Uhuru Kenyatta had disclosed that Saburi deserved 10 years behind bars while DPP Noordin Haji explained that in case one of the contacts allegedly infected by after contact with the DG dies, he will face murder charges.
