The man who was hang on Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya's helicopter in Meru has been ordered to report to the Mathari Teaching and Referral Hospital.
In a ruling delivered by Maua Resident Magistrate, Chesoni Khanali, on Tuesday, July 5, Joakim Mutuiri will spend six months at the mental facility where he is expected to receive treatment for mental-related illness.
The order came as a surprise to Mutwiri and his mother, Mercy Nyoroka, who had presented a medical report from a local hospital indicating that he was mentally ill in a bid to evade a harsh punishment by the court.
“The court cannot allow you to go home since you have to first be treated as an inpatient, after which the doctor will review your condition. The doctor’s recommendation on your progress will allow us to consider releasing you," ruled Justice Chesoni.
However, Nyoroka protested the decision stating that there was no need to ferry her son to Nairobi for treatment, adding that she would nurse him to wellness at home. On his part, Mutwiri claimed he was mentally sound.
"I don't want to be taken to Mathari. Does it mean by just hanging on the helicopter I became mad?” he wondered.
However, the Magistrate stood firm with her directive, adding that she would make the final decision on whether to charge him with attempted suicide after receiving a comprehensive report on his illness from doctors at Mathari hospital.
Nyoroka insisted that her son be left to return home, further blaming the police officers for his misfortune. She opined that had the officers done their crowd-control job well, her son would not have hang on the aircraft.
Mutwiri hang on a chopper as it took off from the Kiegoi market in Igembe South on June 22. He sat on one of the landing skids as it lifted, much to the surprise of the pilots and occupants.
It was not until a section of the crowd signaled the pilot that the aircraft landed to allow him to safely disembark before taking off again. Nonetheless, he was arrested by police officers and taken into custody.
In an interview with the press, Nyoroka claimed that her son was mentally incapacitated - a condition that began when he fell down from a tree in 2017. She added that since then, he has been behaving strangely and suffers from forgetfulness.
In January 2017, Julius Mwithalie took security officers by surprise when he clung onto a chopper carrying the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga, at the Maili Tatu grounds in Igembe Central.
