Didmus Barasa released on Sh10 million bond, ordered to surrender his guns
Kimilili Member of Parliament-elect Didmus Barasa has been ordered to surrender his guns and stay away from Bungoma County after being granted a Sh10 million bond and a surety of Sh5 million.
The MP, who is accused of fatally shooting Brian Olunga, was arraigned at the Kakamega High Court on Wednesday on murder charges contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code.
Mr Barasa had earlier in the day pleaded not guilty. The late Mr Olunga was an aide of the MP’s closest opponent in Kimilili parliamentary seat race Mr Brian Khaemba. The incident happened on election day.
Olunga died of a gunshot wound on the right side of his head, a post-mortem report revealed last week.
Judge Paul John Otieno said under the bail terms, Mr Barasa should not visit Bungoma County, should not contact any witness or comment on the case. He has also been ordered to surrender his passport.
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The accused has been in custody for the last two weeks. When he took his plea, the MP’s lawyer Nathan Tororei had asked the court to release him on bail.
The MP had been detained at Kisumu cells where he appeared in court virtually and the court allowed police to detain him for two weeks ahead of plea taking.
This is after detectives in the case requested for more time to engage the Witness Protection Agency (WPA) to protect witnesses who had expressed fear to testify.
The lawmaker had earlier said he also wants to know who shot dead the deceased, bearing in mind that there were many guns at Chebkhwabi polling station when the incident happened.
He denied that he had gone into hiding after the incident and said he showed up at the police station after learning through the media that the police were looking for him.