Didmus Barasa arraigned, to be held for 10 more days
Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Barasa was arraigned in court on Tuesday to answer murder-related charges.
The MP has been held in Bungoma police station since Friday as the main suspect in the death of one of his opponents’ bodyguards Brian Khaemba of the DAP-K Party.
He appeared before Bungoma Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Charles Mutai, who allowed the prosecution to finish their investigation ten days, before the suspect’s case is fully determined.
The MP-elect’s case will be mentioned on Wednesday, August 24, 2022 before the same court.
“The respondent has been in custody for around three days from August 10. The police are expected to have made some progress so far. Given these orders, the respondent shall be held in Bungoma police station or any other police facility to enable completion of investigation for ten days,” Principal Magistrate Charles Mutai said.
The prosecution had asked the court to give them twenty more days to finalise its investigations, but the court refused, saying that the suspect has already been in police custody for four days.
On Friday, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji said it deferred charges against the MP to allow homicide detectives to complete investigations.
The MP-elect has been hiding since Tuesday following a confrontation at his constituency leading to the fatal shooting, which claimed the life of Brian Olunga at Chebukwabi in Kimilili.
Mr Barasa, who defended his set on the United Democratic Alliance Party had initially said that he was willing to work with the police to also know what led to the death of the deceased.
“I’m ready to cooperate with the police so that I also know what killed that young man,” Barasa said.
He alleged that he was missing since he travelled to Nairobi to get anticipatory bail after being informed about the warrant of arrest.
IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati said that the electoral commissioners’ officials who were at the scene of the incident would appear in court to testify.