Mombasa County Executive Committee Member of Lands Mohamed Hussein has been arrested in connection to the abduction and gang-rape of a blogger who had criticised Governor Abdulswamad Nassir.
Coast regional Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Adan Guyo said Mr Hussein, popularly known as Amadoh, was arrested on Sunday.
"We are expecting to make more arrests in the coming days," Mr Guyo told Nation on phone as he declined to reveal those on the police radar.
A Mombasa Court was informed that the governor, his mother and other influential county officials are expected to record statements with the police.
On Thursday, the court was not informed whether the investigators had recorded these statements.
The court was told that the male victim was abducted and gang-raped after being picked up from his house in Bamburi on the pretext that he was going to apologise to Mr Nassir regarding an insulting video the blogger had shared on social media.
The victim posted a video clip on his TikTok account, in which he recorded himself, criticising the governor.
Last Thursday, four suspects accused of abducting and gang-raping the blogger opposed the state’s request to collect their DNA samples for matching with that collected from the victim.
Mr Abdul Hassan Athman, alias Sindimba, and Mr Haji Babu Ndau Mohamed, alias Achkobe or Jay, expressed concerns that allowing their DNA to be collected for tests would be tantamount to providing self-incriminating evidence in favour of the state.
“We cannot permit the suspects to give incriminating evidence; they are legally protected from giving evidence that may incriminate them,” stated their lawyer, Jared Magolo.
According to the advocate, the request for the accused person's buccal swab should have been made before they were formally charged in court with the four offences they currently face.
Mr Magolo described the state's application as unprocedural and not recognised in law, urging Shanzu Senior Resident Magistrate Robert Mbogo to reject it for the benefit of the accused persons.
“I must emphasise that the accused persons have chosen to refuse to provide the prosecution with any incriminating evidence. They have the right to decline such a request. The train has already left the station. They are no longer suspects but accused persons,” said the advocate.
State Counsel Nadrat Mazrui had requested that DNA samples from the two accused persons be collected.
“We ask the court for orders to commit the two suspects to the officers for the purpose of collecting buccal swabs for forensic analysis. This evidence is crucial for the prosecution’s case,” said Ms Mazrui.
The prosecutor informed the court that detectives had already collected a sample from the victim for forensic analysis.
Ms Mazrui noted that courts had previously granted similar requests when handling such cases under the Sexual Offences Act.
The lawyers, which included Leonard Shimaka, also lamented to the court that the suspects were beaten and coerced into signing statements admitting to the offence.
“It is a travesty of justice if the court disregards what happened to the accused persons while in custody. They were subjected to beatings and forced to sign statements of admission, which were prepared by the officers themselves,” said Magolo.
The two are charged jointly with Ms Esther Muthoni John, alias Totoo, and Ms Violet Adera, alias Vayoo, with the offences of abduction and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The four were also charged with the offence of abduction with intent to confine, where the state alleges that the suspects abducted the victim with intent to cause him to be secretly and wrongfully confined.
Athman and Mohamed are separately charged with the offence of gang rape, where they are accused of sexually assaulting the blogger.
The two were also charged with injuring the victim. The court heard that the two suspects assaulted the blogger using kicks and fists.
The four suspects will remain in custody for over two weeks to allow the officers to file a pre-bail report detailing their backgrounds.
The magistrate stated that the information would assist his court in assessing the accused persons’ backgrounds, their places of residence, and other details that would be crucial in determining the appropriate bond terms for each of them.
“To this end and to enable the court to reach an appropriate bond, I direct that a pre-bail report be filed to enable the court to appraise itself on the accused persons' previous antecedents on bond and bail, their living abodes, the views of the local administration and community and the views of the complainant,” said the magistrate.
At the same time, the magistrate rejected the prosecution’s application to have the accused persons held in prison remand pending the hearing and determination of the case.
The magistrate ruled that the prosecution, through the evidence presented by the investigating officer Ms Irene Karuga, had not met the threshold required to deny the accused persons bond.
The court noted that the prosecution’s application was hinged on speculation and assertions that were not supported by concrete evidence.
“Nothing has been placed before the court to show that the accused persons won’t attend trial or they are a flight risk. I find that the prosecution has failed to convince the court that the accused persons should not be granted bond,” said Mr Mbogo.
The court also noted that the prosecution had failed to present evidence of interference with witnesses, adding that there was no proof that the accused persons knew the witnesses in question or had approached or threatened them in any way, nor were they likely to interfere with them.
The lawyers urged the court to dismiss the case against the suspects, asserting that the evidence in the case was obtained illegally.
Prosecution counsel Anthony Musyoka also confirmed to the court that Mr Athman is a Tanzanian national.
“It has indeed been confirmed that Athman is a foreigner. We urge the court to consider this fact when determining his eligibility for bond,” he said.
The four suspects have been remanded at Shimo La Tewa prison. The case will be mentioned on October 14.
By Valentine Obara, Karim Rajan and Brian Ocharo
