Court orders arrest of Pharmaceutical Society boss

A Kibera court has ordered the immediate arrest of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya Chairman Paul Mwaniki after he failed to appear in court to answer to criminal charges.

Principal Magistrate Benard Ochoi issued a warrant of arrest for Dr Mwaniki, ordering that he be arrested and arraigned in court on July 16 after he jumped bail to appear last Friday as had been directed by the court.

Mwaniki is facing charges of harassing and insulting a senior official at the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Kipkerich Koskei.

The pharmaceutical boss is expected to plead to a charge of creating disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.

The particulars indicate that he created disturbances at the board's offices by shouting and banging tables as he threatened Koskei, who he termed as a mere junior officer. He is alleged to have further vowed to use his powers to have him sacked.

Mwaniki had been bonded to appear in court last week on Thursday but failed to do so. He instead sent his lawyer to plead for two weeks, claiming he was unwell to attend the proceedings.

However, the magistrate rejected the application and directed that he be arrested and produced in court on July 16, when the case will come up for mention. He said Mwaniki had not tabled in court any medical records as evidence to defend his position that he could not plead to the charge, especially since he had been granted police bond. "There is no medical report to show that the accused is incapacitated,” said the magistrate.