Raila driver denies robbery, sexual assault charges

Kisumu, Kenya: Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s driver has denied charges of robbery with violence and sexual assault levelled against him.

Erick Ominde pleaded not guilty to the two charges before Magistrate EA Obinna in Kisumu. There was confusion before the hearing when Ominde and his lawyer Aluoch Kopot went to the Principal Magistrate Court when the case was being mentioned in the Magistrates Court. He then appeared at the Magistrates Court at 10am to take his plea.

The case was transferred to the Magistrates Court after the death of Principal Magistrate Samuel Atonga.

It is alleged that Ominde, with others, robbed the complainant of her property and sexually assaulted her during a Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) rally in Kirembe, Kisumu County, on July 5. “Erick Ominde together with his allies violently robbed the complainant of two Sony recorders, Sony digital camera, a mobile phone and Sh7,500, all totalling to Sh74,500,” read the first account.

Kopot asked the court to lift two arrest warrants issued against Ominde. “We only learnt of these charges and the arrest warrants through the newspapers. Unless the courts have adopted the local dailies as the new way of communicating to respondents,” said Kopot.

The lawyer told the court that the charges were unconnected and extraneous as per Kenya’s criminal justice system and asked that his client be released on bail. “He is the former Prime Minister’s driver. As a public figure, he will attend all the court sessions,” said Kopot.

Ominde was released on a Sh500,000 bond and a cash bail of Sh300,000. The case, which will be heard on October 15, will be mentioned on August 8.