NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 3 – The High Court has reduced the cash bail granted to Embakasi East MP Babu Owino to Sh5 million.
Babu had challenged a Sh10 million cash bail he was ordered to pay by a Magistrate’s court when he faced charges of attempted murder, for shooting a DJ at B-Club in Nairobi.
He’d been freed on January 27 after pleading not guilty.
The DJ is still admitted to hospital after a suffering a gunshot on the neck.
Justice Luka Kimaru reduced the bail terms Tuesday morning, refusing to revoke them in an application filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Owino had been freed on a Sh10 million cash bail which the court said will be used to settle the medical bill of DJ Evolve whom he shot at Nairobi’s B-Club on January 17.
Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi ordered him to deposit the amount in court in four equal installments of Sh2.5 million each.
He was further directed to deposit two sureties of a similar amount and his passport.
In further measures outlined by the court, the lawmaker was forbidden from drinking in public, a directive emanating from the second charge he faced – carrying a firearm while drunk and disorderly.
The decision to have Owino freed on bail ended a 10-day detention period out of which seven days were spent in a remand prison in Nairobi’s Industrial Area.
He was also gagged from commenting about the ongoing case where he was charged with attempted murder charge.
Owino was accused of unlawfully attempting to end the life of Felix Orinda after shooting him in the neck, contrary to Section 222 of the Penal Code.
The offence commonly referred to as accessory after the fact to murder attracts life imprisonment.
“Any person who becomes an accessory after the fact to murder is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life,” Section 222 of the Penal Code reads.
Owino also faced a second charge arising from his disorderly conduct while armed, the prosecution telling the court the legislator violated Sections 33 and 31 (1) of the Firearms Act.
The Act (Section 33) prescribes imprisonment for a term not exceeding a year, a fine not exceeding Sh10,000 or both for any person found guilty of carrying a firearm while drunk or disorderly.
Section 34 (1) further prescribed a sentence not less than seven years but not exceeding fifteen years for, the possession and use of a firearm with, “intent to commit any criminal offence.”
Owino entered a plea of not guilty for attempting to kill DJ Evolve, and a second charge of behaving in a disorderly manner while carrying a firearm on January 20.
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