Ndenderu Ward Member of County Assembly (MCA) in Kiambu County Solomon Kinuthia Wambui will be a guest of the state for five days pending a ruling on bond application after he spent the night at the Kiambu prison.
The MCA had been arraigned before a Kiambu court and charged with assault and malicious damage of property to which he pleaded not guilty and will remain in remand until November 20 when his case will be mentioned.
The MCA who was on a police bond of Sh20, 000 appeared before Kiambu Senior principal magistrate Ms. Stella Atambo on Wednesday when his counsel Mr. Gathenji Mbuthi pleaded with the court to deferred plea taking on claims that the case was being handled internally by the county assembly of Kiambu.
The accused was charged that November 8, 2019 at 1040 hours at Kiambu county assembly building in Kiambu Township of Kiambu County, he willfully and unlawfully assaulted Angela Wanjiru Kangunyi thereby occasioning her actual bodily harm contrary to section 251 of the penal code.
He is also charged with willfully damaged a blouse worth Sh2,500 property of Angela Wanjiru Kangunyi contrary to section 399(1) of the penal code.
However, when the case was mentioned Friday, the prosecution led by Donnex Ongira and Stephen Kasyoka made an application that they intended to produce a document which should be relied on when the court makes determination on bond terms.
The defence counsel rejected the application saying the document was incomplete without the Hansard and that the court should not allow it. The prosecution also made an application intending to amend the names on the charge sheet to read Solomon Kinuthia Wambui and not Solomon Kinuthia Wanjiru. The latter application was allowed.
The case has attracted representation from the LSK and FIDA who filed their documents before the MCA was granted bail. Mercy Kareithi is representing LSK, Noel Okwatch appears for the complainant, while Victor Awuor is representing FIDA.
When the case was mentioned Friday, the defence counsel made an application to be allowed to produce the Hansard and the proceedings were temporarily halted to allow him to serve other parties.
For the complainant, Mr. Okwatch served the court with an affidavit in which she complained that the accused be denied bail as they work in the same institution and that he would interfere with prospective witnesses by intimidating them. Counsels holding brief for FIDA and LSK and Donnex Ongira senior Prosecuting counsel for DPP vehemently opposed the MCA to be granted bail.
By Lydia Shiloya
