Police Rough up Journalists Covering Babu Owino's Bail Ruling

On Friday morning, a group of journalists were roughed up when they attempted to cover the bail ruling for Embakasi East MP Babu Owino at Milimani courts. 

Despite their arrival to cover the event, they were met with a heavy police presence outside the court chambers and were even chased away by officers. One photojournalist was pushed and fell down the stairs. This happened as Owino and Calvin Gaucho were being granted a cash bail of Sh100,000 each. Milimani chief magistrate Lukas Onyina noted that if convicted, the charge against them could result in imprisonment for up to seven years and that the prosecution had cited concerns about witness interference, but had not been clear about which of the accused would be involved. 

Owino arrived at the court around 8:30 am, dressed in a black checked coat and brought in a silver-grey Subaru. Without saying a word, the lawmaker was escorted by plain cloth police to the court to face charges of conspiring to cause chaos or engaging in subversive activities. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, subversive behaviour or activities attempt to destroy or harm something, especially an established political system. Along with self-styled ghetto president Calvin Gaucho and five others, Babu was accused of the same charge and denied it before Milimani Chief Magistrate.

According to his lawyers, Owino was arrested on Tuesday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport upon arrival from Mombasa. He was then held at Wang’uru Police Station in Embu County until being transferred to Nairobi Area Police Station on Thursday. Shortly after being granted bail, the MP claimed that the officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) are plotting on arresting him again. 

“As we speak DCI officers from headquarters and Nairobi Area are all here in court waiting to re-arrest me,” he says