Muthama, Belgut MP Koech freed on Ksh.30K police bond each
Ex-Machakos Senator Muthama and Belgut MP Nelson Koech have been freed on Ksh. 30,000 police bond each after spending the night in custody.
They had been arraigned at the Kwale Law Courts on Wednesday morning.
The duo were arrested after chaos erupted at the Jomo Kenyatta Primary School polling station in Msambweni on Tuesday.
The polling station was closed and declared a no-go zone even as voters camped outside chanting anti-government and anti-Governor Hassan Joho songs in a video seen by Citizen Digital.
Muthama was later transferred from the school to Port Police Station where he and Koech spent the night.
Jubilee Party Nominated Senator Millicent Omanga later took to Twitter to complain that she had been denied access to the station.
I've been denied access into Port Police Station where our colleagues Sen Muthama and Hon Koech are being held incommunicado.
The police here say they've orders from above not to allow anyone from our camp in. #MsambweniDecides pic.twitter.com/vlhOSkkhAa
— Millicent Omanga (@MillicentOmanga) December 15, 2020
To my senior @nduyamuthama and my brother @KoechNelsonK even as you sleep tonight inside those dark police cells, just know that your labor for a free and democratic state is not in vain. Our brother Feisal Bader has won. Thank you for your sacrifice. Forever indebted!
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) December 15, 2020
The Msambweni by-election was marred by accusations and counter-accusations pitting allies of Feisal Bader (independent candidate) against those of Omar Boga (ODM).
Bader’s team, including Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, claimed that senior police officers in Msambweni were transferred at midnight under unclear circumstances.
According to Sudi, the officers were swapped with those in Mombasa, a move he alleged was aimed at creating loopholes in the election process and facilitating rigging in favor of ODM’s Boga.
During a Press briefing, his fellow MPs Khatib Mwashetani (Lunga Lunga) and Mohammed Ali (Nyali), also accused the new security team of harassing them but allowing the ODM team to roam all polling stations freely.
Bader won the Msambweni seat after securing 15,251 votes against his rival Boga Omari who got 10,444 votes.
He was issued with the election certificate early Wednesday morning.
Feisal is the nephew to former Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori who died in March.
Dori, an ODM lawmaker, died at the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa where he was undergoing treatment for cancer.
Additional report by Nicky Gitonga
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