Kimilili Member of Parliament-elect Didmus Barasa has been ordered to surrender his firearms and stay away from Bungoma county pending investigations of the murder of Brian Olunga, his opponent's aid.
In a court ruling issued on Wednesday, August 24, the MP-elect was released on a Ksh10 million bond and a surety of Ksh5 million over the shooting incident.
While issuing the ruling, Kakamega High Court judge Patrick Otieno noted that the mp-elect had considerable influence in the county.
"The accused has considerable influence in Bungoma County, where the crime allegedly happened,” he stated.
The principal prosecution counsel, Grace Mukangu had requested the court to withhold Barasa's passport in court and order him not to use his gun.
Earlier, Barasa was arraigned and pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) had issued a statement, detailing the reasons for charging Barasa over Olunga's murder.
The agency disclosed that all evidence pointed to Barasa as the prime suspect.
This is after a special team from Nairobi established that the lawmaker was present at the time of the shooting.
Further, ballistic investigations revealed that the firearm used in the incident was registered in Barasa's name.
"Ballistic experts based at the DCI National Forensic Laboratory linked Hon Barasa’s firearm to the fatal shot that took away Olunga’s life. This followed a report issued by the ballistic experts after the investigating team forwarded Hon Barasa’s Glock Pistol.
"A cartridge and bullet fragments were taken to the ballistic lab for forensic analysis. The report noted that the recovered cartridge was fired by the Glock pistol issued to Hon Barasa," DCI stated.
