How Korogocho MCA was re-arrested, locked up in Tigoni Police Station
Details have emerged about the re-arrest of Korogocho Member of County Assembly (MCA), Mr Absalom Odhiambo, following his unconditional release from court on Thursday, February 1, 2023.
The trial magistrate ruled that he was originally arrested and detained based on a non-existent law.
In his ruling, the magistrate blasted the police and prosecution for being insensitive to the changes in the law while seeking orders to detain the MCA.
After he was set free, he addressed the media outside the courts, where he said he would pursue the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General, and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).
He accused them of illegally arresting and detaining him, causing embarrassment and disrepute to the law enforcement institution.
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Mr Odhiambo spent two nights in custody at Central Police Station over allegations that he incited opposition supporters to violence and also disobedience of the law when he addressed leaders at Chungwa House in Capitol Hill on January 25, 2023.
He then proceeded to the Nairobi County Assembly, where he was received by his colleagues, including; Nairobi Majority Leader Peter Imwatok.
“They then held celebrations in the assembly as they welcomed him back. It was all songs and dances,” said a source who witnessed what happened.
However, on Saturday, February 4, 2023, the MCA was nabbed by officers attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and his phone was immediately switched off.
He was taken to Tigoni Police Station in Kiambu County, where he is currently being detained.
In an interview with Nairobi News on Sunday, Mr Dunstan Omari, the Korogocho Member of County Assembly (MCA) lawyer, expressed his confusion over his client’s recent arrest.
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Despite representing the political leader at the Milimani Law Courts and securing his release, Mr Omari stated that he was unaware of the reasons for the re-arrest and questioned the prolonged, unjust suffering inflicted upon his client by the police.
“It is clear that the MCA was set free, and the court ruled that he did not have any case to answer. Now we are wondering why they are illegally holding him without any explanations,” Mr Omari, who spent the better part of Sunday at the station, said.
On the night of Sunday, February 5, 2023, Mr Odhiambo was still in police custody as the lawyers worked round the clock to seek his release.
It has been established that plans are underway to arraign him in court on the morning of Monday, February 6, 2023.
His silent arrest was first made public by Embakasi East lawmaker Babu Owino and Azimio la Umoja Coalition boss Raila Odinga.
Mr Odinga, in his speech, while addressing a crowd in Kibra, said that he had given the government 24 hours to release the MCA.
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