Siaya priest denies spreading coronavirus knowingly, freed on Ksh.500K bond

Siaya Catholic priest Richard Oduor was on Thursday freed by a Nairobi court on a cash bail of Ksh.150,000 or Ksh.500,000 bond after denying knowingly spreading the coronavirus.

The court also directed that the priest goes into a 14-day self-quarantine at Assisi house on Adams Arcade which is run by the Franciscan Sisters of St. Josephs.

Father Oduor was arrested on Thursday last week after being discharged from a Nairobi hospital where he was admitted after testing positive for Covid-19.

He was arraigned at the Milimani Law Court on Tuesday where Magistrate Martha Nanzushi granted orders to have him detained for two more days at the Kileleshwa Police Station pending further investigations.

Fr. Oduor — who hails from Ambira — returned to the country from Rome on March 11 and spent a day at Utawala in Nairobi before travelling home on March 13 where he conducted the burial of a close relative.

He later returned to Nairobi and exhibited symptoms of the disease prompting his admission to hospital where he tested positive and was placed under quarantine.