Court blocks arrest of Gachagua allies over probe into protests
The High Court has issued orders stopping the police from arresting or detaining Embakasi North MP James Gakuya and his Embakasi Central counterpart Benjamin Mejja Donk as part of the probe into the funding of the Gen Z protests. https://shorturl.at/7ycdO
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00:00It started as a revolution where the young people raised very fundamental accounting questions.
00:10Those fundamental accounting questions brought about the questions of the transparency and capability of the then cabinet,
00:21led by his excellency the president of the Republic of Kenya, Dr. William Brutos, capacity to lead the country.
00:30Out of that, the demonstrations were organic and the government responded fast by saying the demonstrations were being funded by the Russians.
00:45That was on record from the official government spokesman.
00:51It turned out it was Ford Foundation that was funding the demonstrations.
00:58It moved from Ford Foundation, it was brought into the door of the sitting deputy president of the Republic of Kenya,
01:07his excellency Gashagwa Ndohiji.
01:11Out of that line, his supporters, his key supporters, one being Honorable James Mwangi Gakuya,
01:22were targeted and other people were arrested and also very many young people disappeared that have not been accounted for.
01:34The two members of parliament were hounded from parliament buildings without their lawyers, taken to the DCI.
01:43They were held incommunicado.
01:46They were questioned on two things.
01:50Their relationship with one, his excellency the deputy president, Gashagwa.
01:58They were questioned whether they are funds.
02:01Investigations were done.
02:03They were told to surrender their telephone handset.
02:09When they called us, we advised them not to surrender the telephone handset.
02:14That extended to the premises of the deputy president.
02:20His staffs were questioned.
02:22They recorded statements.
02:24Then, after we instructed our clients not to give their telephone handsets because there is no court order,
02:33the police went to Kiambu through a miscellaneous application, got expert orders to pick the phones of the members of parliament.
02:43Out of the court order, our clients surrendered their mobile phones.
02:48So they are being analysed by the cybercrime officers.
02:53There is some concerted effort between those two offices to undermine the leadership of this wonderful gentleman
03:01to have them arrested in an attempt to intimidate them.
03:05Because there is this misconception that they have been sponsoring this anti-government protest.
03:10So for that reason, we approached the Honorable Court.
03:13My Lord, Justice Mita, yesterday on the 5th day of August 2024, issued orders.
03:20Orders that have consequently stopped the DCI from summoning, from intimidating or from harassing
03:28the Honorable James Boninakuya of Embakasi North and the Honorable Benjamin Ngabiru, a.k.a. Benjadaw of Embakasi Central.
03:38So this we are seeing.
03:41I mean, the courts are coming out strong to be our bastion of hope.
03:46To be the protectors of the constitutional democracy that we have embraced unto ourselves.
03:52We cannot lose sight of the reasons why this anti-government protest has been there.
03:59We know for a fact that the young generation of this Republic of Kenya have been coming out
04:05conspicuously and loudly to speak against the injustices that we have been seeing from the government.
04:10The lack of accountability and the lack of transparency.
04:13It cannot be in the mouths or the hands of the very same government to try and distract us
04:22by trying to arrest or causing the arrest and intimidation of leaders by the name of, you know,
04:29attributing the anti-government protest to some of these leaders.
04:32We know for a fact that these young men have been leaderless.
04:35These young individuals of the Republic of Kenya.
04:38We have been apartless.
04:40The reason why this young generation has been going out to speak is well known.
04:45It's within the public knowledge and domain.