Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang’ula’s bodyguard has been charged over a scuffle at the Supreme Court on Monday.
Mr Simon Lonyia was charged with creating disturbance, preventing a police officer from executing his duty and forcing his way into Supreme Court with a firearm.
He is alleged to have pushed Central Police division OCPD Robinson Thuku at the entrance of the court.
He is accused of committing the said offenses on August 28.
SACKED
He was arrested the following day and put in police custody before being arraigned in court Wednesday.
He appeared before Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi who released him on a personal bond of Sh20,000 after he denied the charge.
Mr Lonyia is being represented by lawyer Eunice Lumallas.
The case will be heard on September 18.
On Tuesday, Mr Lonyia was sacked over the scuffle.
Mr Wetang’ula however vowed to mount a legal fight against the reported dismissal of his bodyguard.
REINSTATE
On Tuesday, the senator had asked the police to reinstate the bodyguard failure to which he will seek legal redress.
Mr Wetang’ula said his bodyguard informed him in the evening yesterday that he had been summarily dismissed from the police service after spending a night in the cells at the Central Police Station in Nairobi.
“We want to urge the Police Service Commission to take immediate steps and reinstate Simon Lonyia back to his job and if there is anything they have against him, to give him an opportunity to be heard, take him through due process and pass him a verdict that can stand a test if he chooses to go to court to defend his rights,” said Mr Wetang’ula.
The Ford-Kenya party leader characterised Mr Lonyia, who comes from Turkana, as “a young helpless person from a county that has been neglected since independence” and who was mistreated by his seniors.
PISTOL
At the gate on Monday afternoon, Mr Lonyia was in trouble for refusing to surrender his pistol like all other armed people entering the court and appeared to disregard the orders of his seniors. After he forced his way in with the support of Raila Odinga and Mr Wetang’ula, he told one of the officers, “Behave.”
The officers’ grouse with him appeared to be the refusal to hand over his pistol.
Mr Wetang’ula said he had spoken to the Inspector-General after the proceedings on Monday and was told that Nairobi Police Commander Japhet Koome could handle the matter.
The senator said Mr Koome was “rude, boisterous, arrogant and showed that he doesn’t care the least about the fate of one of his junior officers.”
KAVULUDI
After that, he said, he spoke to National Police Service Commission Chairman Johnstone Kavuludi, who promised to look into the matter.
He said the officer informed him that after the night in the cells at the police station, he was taken to the headquarters of the General Service Unit and informed at 4.30 p.m. that he had been relieved of his job.
“I know the law. The Inspector-General of Police has got no power, both in law, under the Constitution and in fact, to dismiss any police officer. The dismissal and hiring of police officers is the function of the National Police Service Commission,” said Mr Wetang’ula.
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