- Justice George Odunga ordered that the said surety should be approved by Kajiado High Court deputy registrar.
- Odunga also directed that the suspect should not be seen within a radius of Ole Kasasi area in Ongata Rongai town until the case is heard and determined unless otherwise directed by the trial court.
A police officer who was charged with killing a tout in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado county was on Thursday released on Sh800,000 bail.
Justice George Odunga sitting in Machakos High Court granted Edwin Okimaru the Sh800,000 bail with a surety of a similar amount after he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Odunga ordered that the said surety should be approved by Kajiado High Court deputy registrar.
“I direct that the suspect be moved from Muthaiga police station where he had been remanded since his arrested, to Kitengela GK prison where he should be held until the bail is paid,” the judge ruled.
Odunga also directed that the suspect should not be seen within a radius of Ole Kasasi area in Ongata Rongai town until the case is heard and determined unless otherwise directed by the trial court.
He further ordered Okimaru not to interfere with prosecution witnesses or the manner in which the prosecution case was being conducted either directly or indirectly.
Okimaru was directed to appear in court as ordered and in the event of violation of these terms, the bond will be liable for cancellation and he will be placed in custody until the case is determined.
The suspect through his lawyers Lydia Abuya and Emmanuel Mwangi from Abuya Kwamboka & Company Advocates had on June 7, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The advocates requested the court to release their client on reasonable bail terms.
The police officer based at Dabel police station in Moyale was on the night of May 14 arrested by DCI homicide detectives, being the main suspect in the torture and subsequent murder of Mungai who until his death was a matatu conductor at Stage One in Ongata Rongai.
He was arrested after investigations involving the DCI Homicide branch, cybercrime, and crime research and intelligence bureau forensically placed him at the scene of the murder.
The court heard that the police constable together with others not before the court killed Mungai on the night of April 18 and 19, 2021 at Olekasasi in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado county.
The DCI sleuths had promised to leave no stone unturned in the murder probe.
Mungai was arrested by Okimaru on April 18 at around 10pm.
At the time of arrest, Mungai was in the company of two others only identified as Njenga and George, together with whom he had been accused of violating curfew regulations.
After being assaulted, the three were bundled into a truck of a waiting private car and driven away before being dumped at the Tuala area in Kajiado at night.
Luckily, George, who was tied up using a rope, managed to free himself and rescued Mungai and Njenga, both of whom had been badly injured, according to the DCI preliminary reports.
Using a boda boda hailing app, George called for a rider hoping to assist Mungai to the hospital.
However, fearing they could again bump into the officers, George and Njenga left Mungai near Nazarene University and went separate ways.
The following morning on April 19, a passer-by discovered frail Mungia and offered to take him to Ongata Rongai Health Centre. Details at the facility showed he received first aid.
The caregivers advised Mungai to be transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital as he was in critical condition. He died two days later.
-Edited by SKanyara