Court to hear MP Bosire’s case on security detail reinstatement

The case by Kitutu Masaba MP Timothy Bosire accusing the government of contempt of court over the reinstatement of his bodyguards will be heard Tuesday.

The MP argues that Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet, Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery and Attorney General Githu Muigai failed to honor orders issued by High Court Judge Isaac Lenaola last week to reinstate his bodyguards.

In his ruling, Justice Lenaola said the act of withdrawing the legislator’s security detail raises an issue of discrimination, and directed that his bodyguards be reinstated.

Bosire claimed that the decision to withdraw his security came after he refused to adhere to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s call to stand up in honour of fallen KDF soldiers in El Adde, Somalia.

He claimed that his defiance was due to failure by the government to provide truthful information regarding the attack.

A similar ruling was made in a case filed by Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho against Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery last month after his bodyguards were withdrawn and an order issued to surrender his guns.

In Joho’s case, Judge George Odunga stated that the power to cancel firearm licences rested with the licensing board, and not the Interior CS, noting that it will be unfair to deny Joho’s his request to stop his arrest and withdrawal of his firearms.