MRC leaders still stuck in remand over high bonds

By Willis Oketch

Chairman of the Mombasa Republican Council and his wife have lost their bid to be free on bail until the court cases against them are concluded.

At the time of going to press, the two, Omar Mwamnwadzi and Maimuna Hamisi Mwavyombo were still in remand prison under heavy guard after failing to raise the Sh3 million bond and similar sureties each required for their freedom.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Stephen Riech set the tough bail conditions for the two and 35 other suspects in the case after declaring that the State has no compelling reason to deny the couple their constitutional right to be free on bail.

Riech ruled that the two alongside 35 other co-accused report to the provincial police headquarters in Mombasa every Monday at 9.00am if they raised the bonds to secure their freedom.

Most of the suspects charged alongside Mwamnwadzi are impoverished residents of Kwale County

Mwamnwadzi and his wife face seven charges, including illegal possession of a gun. One of the suspects, Said Bakari, is a Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination (KCSE) candidate at Moi Forces Academy in Mtongwe, Mombasa.

Bakari could sit his exams under tight guard at Shimo La Tewa prison if he fails to raise a Sh3 million bond and surety of the same amount.

It also emerged that Mwamnwadzi and seven MRC leaders, including spokesman Rashid Mraja and Secretary General Hamza Randu will face fresh charges tomorrow of belonging to an “unlawful society”.

This follows a fresh ban slapped on MRC by the Government on Friday last week.

When he appeared before the magistrate, Mwamnwadzi looked radically different and healthier compared to the bloody mess he was when he stumbled into court on October 15 aided by his co-suspects.

Dirty and dejected at the time, he wore bloodied clothes and was barely recognisable and audible due to his heavily swollen face, which also disfigured with open wounds.

It is not clear how he got the injuries although police claimed his arrest was violent and his bodyguard opened fire on a team trying to arrest him.

They said the MRC leader lost four teeth in the fracas leading to his arrest by the paramilitary General Service Unit, but this has not been confirmed and on Monday Mwamnwadzi, a former soldier, looked clean and alert.

Clean and composed and walking without assistance, Mwamnwadzi was clad in a long sleeved orange shirt that matched his wife’s hijab (Muslim head covering for women) and black sandals.

Seated next to his wife, he smiled often to supporters who jammed the public gallery at the law courts and his face showed healing scars.

Mwamnwadzi appeared in the court as MRC treasurer, Mr Omar Suleiman Babu alias Bam Bam surrendered to the police at Coast Provincial Police Headquarter.

Bam Bam, who has served in the Kenya Navy, surrendered to the police at their Mombasa headquarters before being rushed to court to on a charge of being a member of an illegal society.

The MRC treasurer denied he had been hiding and as we went to the press was to plead before Mombasa?Principal Magistrate, Mr Richard?Odenyo in a separate court.

“I have not been hiding.? I have been in my house at Majengo. It is the police who wanted me because I did not want them,” said Bam Bam before he was hauled away to police cells.

The charge against Mwamnwadzi and other MRC leaders in jail and at large, states that between 2005 and October 2012 in Coast province they were “members of (an) unlawful society namely Mombasa Republican Council.”

State?counsel George Mureithi had opposed Mwamnwadzi’s release on bond when he was charged on October 15, arguing that it was too risky to free him and his co-accused.

After Mwamnwadzi’s dramatic arrest at his Kombani home, MRC supporters allegedly killed the local sub-chief Salim Changu whom they accused of betraying their leader’s whereabouts to police.

Mureithi claimed Mwamnwadzi’s release could spark new violence in Kwale.

But the suspects’ lawyer Anania Mwaboza opposed this argument saying the suspects have a constitutional right to bail, an argument upheld by Riech who said it is the duty of the State to maintain security and protect all across the Kenya territory.

?Mwamnwadzi?and his wife denied that on October 15, 2012?in Kombani, Kwale County they were found in possession of firearm serial number 74CA5581 without a certificate.

They also denied another charge that on October 15 in the same area, they were found in possession of fifteen rounds of ammunitions without a firearm certificate.

The third charge against them states that on thee same day they were also found in possession of offensive weapons, namely swords, panga, and other crude weapons.

Mwamnwadzi denied being found in possession of firearms, four petrol bombs, three swords, six knives four arrows, two bows,?a spear and?eight machetes in circumstances prejudicial to public order.

?The chairman and his wife faced separate charges of being in possession of two T-shirts with the words Pwani si Kenya, Mombasa Republican Council, Nchi Mpya Maisha Mpya” thus disobeying the lawful authority of the Government.

The duo faces another charge of being found with literature promoting secession and rebellion as well as witchcraft paraphernalia.

Riech ruled that the Form Four candidate should do his national examination under tight guard at Shimo la Tewa Secondary School if he cannot raise the bond.

Mwaboza had sought the candidate’s release on a free personal bond to enable him to sit his examination at Moi Forces Academy, but the magistrate rejected the request.

A woman who was following the proceedings from the public gallery broke down into tears and collapsed when the stringent bond conditions were announced.