Babu Owino welcomes court deal to resolve matters with DJ Evolve

Embakasi East MP Babu Owino has welcomed the recent decision of the Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi in which the court allowed him and DJ Evolve to resolve matters while embracing Alternative Dispute Resolution.

"I thank the court for being bold enough to uphold the restorative principles of justice," he said.

An 18-page deal between Babu and Felix Orinda, aka DJ Evolve, set the lawmaker free from the grips of the law.

The magistrate’s court acquitted Babu after Orinda withdrew his complaint.

However, the price of the acquittal in the attempted murder charge is hefty.

An agreement filed as a condition for withdrawal reveals the extent to which Babu has to dig into his bank accounts to ensure Orinda recovers and lives a comfortable life after the club shooting incident.

But the MP sought assurance from the DJ and his family that they will not lodge another complaint.

In the event Babu fails to honour his end of the bargain, he is liable to a civil case to recoup expenses incurred for treatment and compensation for injuries sustained, loss of earnings and future medical expenses.

“If any party fails to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this agreement and such failure, if capable of remedy, is not remedied within 30 days of receipt of a written notice of such failure from the party in breach, either party shall be at liberty to rescind the agreement or to sue for breach ...,” the deal filed before Ochoi reads.

Babu, in a statement today, said, "DJ Evolve is a brave and inspirational young man. I remain indebted to him for the gracious manner in which he has carried himself during this obviously challenging time."

When his wife collapsed and died two months ago, John Orinda was handed the burden of taking care of the children she left behind.

One of these children was DJ Evolve, once a bubbly teen who had taken music for a career until a bullet consigned him into a life in bed.

And so when a deal too sweet came by from none other than the man who allegedly fired the destructive bullet, Orinda says he couldn't let it pass for vengeance's sake.

He's fine with the deal signed with Babu who will clear the Sh17 million medical bill at Nairobi Hospital, pay home nursing costs and set up a DJ academy for the entertainer.

He would also buy him a Toyota Noah, pay his two-year rent in advance, water, electricity, internet, and drug costs, buy him a house and build him another in Utawala.

Orinda says he did it for his son, and worries not about critics who do not appreciate the circumstances around the whole saga or the plight of his son.

For him, the biggest justice for his son would be his full recovery and not Babu’s jailing.

He says those criticising him for the deal reached with the MP have no clue.

“I hear some people claiming that I exchanged my son’s case for money. What do they take me for? A callous man who would sell his son’s welfare?” he said.

Orinda says the impression that he had betrayed the quest for justice is hogwash.

DJ Evolve was shot on January 17, 2020, at the B-Club entertainment joint in Nairobi.

He was hospitalised for months at Nairobi hospital, leaving sometime in June 2020.

[Additional reporting by Mireri Junior and Kamau Muthoni]