Four to testify against MP Mishi Mboko

Mombasa County women Representative Mishi Juma Mboko, at the Mombasa court on Monday,030th June 2014.She denied three counts of incitement to violence,Ethnic haltred and disobedience of law.   Pics By Maarufu Mohamed/Standard.

A court has summoned four witnesses to testify against Mombasa County MP Mishi Mboko, who is charged with inciting ethnic hatred contrary to the National Cohesion and Integrity Act. Yesterday, the court ordered the Director of Public Prosecution to present the witnesses after they failed to appear in court on several occasions.

The witnesses are required to testify on what transpired on June 1 last year during Madaraka Day celebrations at Tononoka grounds when the MP made the alleged provoking comments. Principal Magistrate Julius Nang’ea said the prosecution should produce the witnesses.

“The State should produce all the four witnesses in court with their statements to allow the case to proceed,” said Mr Nang’ea.

Ms Mboko last year denied inciting people to violence and was released on a Sh400,000 bond, with an alternative cash bail of Sh200,000. Yesterday investigating officer in the case Simon Simiyu said two of the witnesses had expressed fear of testifying. He said he needs time to avail the witnesses although one of them had relocated from Mombasa to Nairobi and efforts to locate her had not yielded fruit. He told the court that the incitement speech and video recordings had been taken by police working undercover. He said he decided to charge Mboko because the two statements she made were meant to trigger violence and divide Kenyans along ethnic lines.