Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi was faced with a vicious battle on his first day in court after the DPP asked the court to hold him at Manyani Maximum Security Prison while investigations into his trial continue.
Edgar Mulamula, acting for the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) made an application before the court on Monday, April 6 asking that Saburi be held for an additional 14 days at the infamous Manyani Prison to protect him from angry Kilifi residents.
"We received info that the residents of Kilifi are angered by the actions of the Deputy Governor and are threatening to cause him harm and this would be an added incentive to have him in custody where the government can guarantee his safety," argued the prosecution.
Mulamula also sought the 14-day confinement on the grounds that the prosecution had yet to collect all the evidence needed for the case and would do so while Saburi was behind bars.
"We ask that Gideon Saburi be held at Manyani Maximum Security Prison for 14 days for the reason that the investigations are yet to be completed as the witness statements from the public gathering he attended are in diverse parts of the public and have to be traced," argued Mulamula.
Saburi's lawyer George Kithi, however, fought the move by the prosecution to hold Saburi at the Maximum Security facility stating that it would be unlawful to commit Saburi to prison before he had taken a plea.
The lawyer further argued that it went against the dictates of reason to hold the DG ina prison during the pandemic while all state efforts were trying to reduce congestion at these very institutions.
"There courts have been trying to decongest prisons and decongest courts, a directive by the Chief Justice himself but now we are taking people to prison, it doesn't make sense," argued Kithi.
Kithi also provided that there was no justification in the prosecution's claims that the DG's life would be endangered by furious Kilifi residents if he was to be set free.
"Who is it in this country who can take the law into his hands so that when people are angry we can isolate others in our prisons? There is no justification in saying that his life is in danger," argued Kithi.
Saburi's lawyer made further arguments that the prosecution could not prove that the DG had tested positive for Covid-19. This was based on the fact that the state had allegedly found him positive on March 21, but he tested negative two days later.
"On March 23, 2020, he was tested, the results were negative for coronavirus. Not malaria, not dengue, but for corona," stated Kithi defending Saburi against state allegations that he had spread the virus.
Ritah Amwayi, the Senior Resident Magistrate who heard the case provided that she would deliver her ruling on April 9.
Saburi would be forced to remain in police custody for an extra three days until then.
Watch Saburi's Lawyer, George Kithi, make submissions in court below:
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