Charges against Waititu put on hold

By CYRUS OMBATI

Police were ordered to withhold charges lined up against Assistant minister and Embakasi MP Ferdinand Waititu.

Sources said officers handling the case were called and ordered not to take him to court as planned, ostensibly because that would ruin his political career.

CID officers from the new Makadara Police Division were ready to move to court and register Waititu’s case yesterday morning when they received instructions to "carry out further investigation".

Further notice

Nairobi politicians, including a Cabinet minister, are said to have prevailed upon senior police officers to hold the charges of incitement until further notice.

"You know if he steps in court, he has to step aside from his ministerial position until the case is heard and determined and that is why there is pressure for us to hold the case," said a senior officer, who asked not to be named.

Security had been beefed up at the Makadara Law Courts awaiting the arrival of the assistant minister.

Waititu had been released on a Sh10,000 police bond on Monday after he pledged to come to court yesterday.

He had been arrested during a dramatic demolition at the KPA slums, off Mombasa Road, Nairobi, after he allegedly told residents not to move out.

The assistant minister had arrived in an official car and tried to tell residents to stay put when anti-riot police landed on him and dragged him into a police car.

It is at the same area that four police officers were injured and two bulldozers burnt in a clash last week. Embakasi OCS lost his gun.

At the Industrial Area Police Station, Nairobi, the MP told journalists that he had been told he was under arrest.

Police officers said they feared the Embakasi MP’s remarks could lead to violence similar to last week’s that saw an officer injured and property damaged.