NASA claims Ndii's tribulations could be linked to his appointment to head People's Assembly committee

NASA leader Raila Odinga flanked by Kisumu county governor Anyang' Nyong'o and county officials addresses the press outside Kisumu governor office after a courtesy call on December 04,2017.(Photo: Denish Ochieng| Standard)

A police bid to charge activist David Ndii was yesterday thwarted as Opposition leader Raila Odinga alleged a State plot to arrest his allies and crush dissent.

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko yesterday directed the police to release Dr Ndii, who is the National Super Alliance's (NASA) economic adviser, on police bond without being charged.

Police accused him of incitement to violence.

Ndii, who was arrested on Sunday evening at the Coast and driven to Nairobi, yesterday spent three hours at the Milimani Law Courts before the DPP’s intervention.

He was taken to court shortly after 3pm, but was not charged after police investigators failed to produce a charge sheet or documents to show why they took him to court.

This was unlike other circumstances where police take a person to court either with a ready charge sheet or with an application before a magistrate asking for more days to detain the person pending conclusion of investigations.

There was confusion in the court after Ndii was brought in, with prosecutors from the DPP's office not sure what to do in the absence of the police file which normally comes with a charge sheet or detention request.

It took time before one of the senior assistant DPPs at the Milimani court communicated with Mr Tobiko, who then directed that the economist be freed on police bond as the probe continues.

The file is to be presented to his office for his scrutiny.

“After the investigators are done with the investigations, they can forward the file back to me for perusal before I give further directions on whether to proceed with the charges or not,” said the DPP.

Ndii was represented by a team of lawyers led by Siaya Senator James Orengo, Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, Edwin Sifuna, Amunga Cohen, and Apollo Mboya.

He was later escorted by three police vehicles and his lawyers to Muthaiga Police Station to have his fingerprints taken before being released.

NASA claims Ndii's tribulations may be linked to last week’s decision to appoint him to steer a seven-member committee to oversee the implementation of the People's Assembly, a forum the Opposition is propagating to challenge the Jubilee regime's tenure.

Yesterday, Raila alleged Ndii's arrest was a signal the Jubilee administration had declared a full crackdown on the Opposition.

"We know why Dr Ndii was harassed and later arrested. The matter will not end with Ndii. We know other people  will be arrested because of their fight for democracy," claimed Raila.

The former prime minister said Ndii's dramatic arrest reminded Kenyans of the single party era when the State harassed, detained, and even killed those opposed to its rule.

"We are back to the dark old days and this time it could be worse," said Raila.

Earlier, Ndii who was driven overnight from Diani in Kwale, where he was arrested, was brought to Nairobi where he was interrogated.

Ndii's wife, Judy Mwende Gatabaki-Ndii, said seven armed officers accosted her husband and their 11-year-old daughter as they were heading to the hotel's dinning hall for dinner.

“Police stormed the hotel, some brandishing guns, and arrested my husband in front of our daughter like a wanted criminal. We are traumatised and scared,” she said at the coastal city yesterday.

She said police invaded her hotel room, demanding her husband's laptop.

Officers drawn from the Special Crime Prevention Unit, who picked up Ndii from the Leopard Beach Resort & Spa, where he was holidaying with his family, transferred the economist to Nairobi.

At one time the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers blocked NASA lawyers from entering the premises.

Orengo, Norman Magaya, Paul Mwangi, Sifuna, and Amollo and nominated MP Godfrey Osotsi were locked outside the gate for nearly two hours, with police telling them they were under instructions not to allow them in.

Orengo and Sifuna were later allowed to speak to Ndii as the rest remained outside the main gate.

Pure intimidation

“This is pure intimidation. Normal procedure requires that in such instances one is invited to record a statement.

"It is shocking how officers can raid a private room and conduct a search without a warrant," Amollo told reporters at the DCI headquarters.

Raila urged international intervention saying: "History will judge the international community harshly if they don't intervene to stop what is happening in Kenya now."

He claimed the Jubilee administration had lost the legitimacy to govern the country and had now resorted to arbitrary arrests, intimidation, and killing of opposition backers.

"Last week we buried 20 people and this week we are going to bury 20 more persons. This growing list of death points to misuse of the police force," claimed Raila.

"You can use bullets, teargas, water canons, but I want to restate clearly that you cannot rule the people against their will."

He said the push for electoral justice was unstoppable. 

"We will continue until we ensure each and every vote cast during elections counts."

Reporting by Geoffrey Mosoku, Paul Ogemba, Faith Karanja, Kepher Otieno, and Harold Odhiambo