Eight suspects who allegedly attacked and stoned the motorcade of the Deputy President William Ruto have been denied bond.
The eight are accused of pelting the DP’s convoy with stones during his tour of Busia County on Saturday, October 23 at Korinda junction.
Appearing before the Busia Chief Magistrate Lucy Ambasi, the eight suspects were charged with incitement to violence, obstructing the police officers while performing their duty, and malicious damage to property.
The eight; Friday Ouma, Michael Omondi, George Odongo, David Ouma, Fredrick Okoth, Reuben Barasa, and two minors aged 16 and 14 years were denied bond and have been remanded at Korinda GK prison.
While delivering the ruling, Chief Magistrate Ambasi stated that despite the suspects being entitled to a bond, she was persuaded by the prosecution to deny them bond on various grounds.
"Whereas the accused persons are entitled to a bond as a constitution right, I am persuaded by the prosecution counsel Mr. Namasake that there are grounds to deny you bond,” she stated.
The eight suspects denied the charges against them with the Chief Magistrate directing that the matter be mentioned on Friday, November 5.
Speaking on Monday, October 25, during a multi-agency election preparedness update, the Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i maintained his sentiments stating that the government is prepared to maintain peace through the political season.
“I would like to assure the country that we are prepared on our part and we are going to increase the energy and the focus we put on election preparations, he said.
The CS also that the multi-agency team has mapped up given areas and are monitoring closely to avert any challenges that may occur.
“We have shared information and we will continue to share information on the mapping we have done in the country, the various parts of the country that we think may have some certain challenges and we are monitoring very closely, he stated.
The tough-talking CS reiterated that political leaders are free to move to any part of the country urging law enforcement agencies to act with fairness and neutrality when managing political gatherings.
“Political leaders and aspirants have a right to move freely within our borders and ours is to be neutral and act fairly to ensure an environment for a vibrant democratic debate,” the CS noted
