Governor Wycliffe Oparanya's bid to stop incitement charge flops

KAKAMEGA: Governor Wycliffe Oparanya will still face a charge that he had termed unconstitutional.

Mr Oparanya had challenged the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) through a petition and sought a review of his incitement charge, which he faced in a lower court. He alleged that the charge sheet was improperly framed and went against his freedom of speech.

TEMPORARY ORDERS

He successfully obtained temporary orders stopping his trial in a lower court on July 28, 2015, until the application for the review of the charge in the lower court was heard and determined by the High Court, which has now ruled in favour of the DPP.

The charge Oparanya wanted reviewed reads: “On the 26th of April 2014 at Mabole village in Kakamega, Oparanya, without lawful excuse, uttered words, ‘Kimila mpaka ifanyike boma itandazwe,’ words which led to mourners burning houses, damaging property and causing injuries to Wilsham Malele, Emilly Maika, Roseline Linet and George Namai.”

The governor argued that it was improper for the DPP to craft any charge against him in a matter that is still under police investigation.

Oparanya further said that by being charged based on the words on the charge sheet, his freedom of expression would be curtailed.

CHARGE APPROPRIATE

The DPP however applied to have the charge stay or revised but not thrown out through review as Oparanya wished.

Kakamega Resident judge Ruth Sitati ruled that the charge in the lower court was appropriate and that its wording captured the scope of the crime Oparanya was charged with.

She cited Section 134(75) as the threshold the drafters of the charge from the DPP had met besides rightly capturing the statement of the incitement offence he faced.

“The charge is not unconstitutional and cannot be said to be an abuse of the court process as the petitioner argued,” the court ruled.