Outrage as Kenyan lawmaker gets bail

The Kenyan lawmaker accused of shooting a DJ in a nightclub in Nairobi has been released on a Sh10 million bail, prompting cries that the judicial system unfairly condemns the poor.

Babu Owino, the MP for Embakasi East, is due to pay his bail in four instalments of Sh2.5 million over the next four months, which Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi has directed to pay for the victim’s treatment.

Local residents erected banners on roadsides and over bridges protesting the fact that well-connected and wealthy individuals can evade the justice system, whilst the poor languish in prison.

Many of them referenced the recent conviction of the Akasha brothers, part of a drug ring, who were recently sentenced in a US court.

President Kenyatta has been critical of the judiciary, saying their inability to convict “evildoers” is a dereliction of their duty.

Addressing the nation, he said “I think it is a shame on our country that we prosecuted a case against drug traffickers in our country and we couldn’t get a conviction and, within a year of them being arraigned in the United States, they have been jailed for not less than 25 years.

“That is something that our judiciary should come to terms with.”

The brothers evaded justice in Kenya for four years before they were extradited to the US, where last year they were convicted and sentenced to a combined term of 48 years.

Photo credit: Kanyiri Wahito | Daily Nation