Gachagua's men had to seek court order for DCI to release their phones

 

Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru and his Embakasi North counterpart James Gakuya. [File, Standard]

Police confiscated and examined the phones of two Nairobi MPs allied to Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for over a month The Saturday Standard has established.

The gadgets were held by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as part of their investigations over who was behind the Gen Z demos that rocked the country in June and July.

The three phones belong to Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru and his Embakasi North counterpart James Gakuya.

The DCI obtained an order from the magistrate's court after questioning the two legislators over claims that they were part of those who funded the demos.

This move was widely seen as an assault on Gachagua and his allies by the investigators.

The phones were recently released to Gathiru and Gakuya after they obtained an order from Kiambu Senior Principal Magistrate Mereseia Opondo.

In his supporting affidavit, Gakuya told Opondo that the DCI had refused to return the phones or give an update on when they would be returned.

“That the use of mobile phones and SIM cards is instrumental for our day-to-day communication not only with fellow members of parliament but also our families and the electorate at large and the lack thereof disenfranchises us crippling on our right to information and subjecting us to immense hardships,” he said.

Gathiru told The Saturday Standard that after getting the order and serving DCI through their lawyer Moses Mabeya, it was ignored with officers giving him endless excuses on when to pick them up.

He said they were only returned after they spoke about it during a church service attended by Gachagua and other leaders.

He said the main reason why they wanted the phones back apart from them fighting an ‘intimidation act’ from the DCI was because of the data contained in the phones.

In their application to obtain the phones, the police claimed that Gakuya and Gathiru were responsible for planning, mobilizing, and organizing goons who infiltrated the protestors and caused violence.

They accused the two of being responsible for ferrying the alleged criminals from Kiambu, Juja, and Roysambu.

Chief Inspector Phillip Sang' told the court that there was information that the two MPs were in constant communication and, hence, were allegedly giving instructions.

“The respondents were also involved in organizing transport from the suburbs of Nairobi to the CBD. The information we have received indicates that the said James Gakuya herein mobilized and issued orders to agents whom he had paid to organize violent protests through his communication gadgets,” said Sang.

According to the officer, the two are believed to have paid up those who participated in the protests.

DCI said that they were interested in extracting data from Gathiru's two mobile phones and Gakuya’s one mobile phone.

The two legislators were interrogated at the DCI headquarters on July 31 while in the company of their lawyer Moses Mabeya.

While addressing the press outside DCI headquarters the legislators called the act by the officers a witch hunt, saying that they were being targeted for being Gachagua allies.

They were accused of bankrolling the protests that also saw looting in parts of Nairobi county and counties in Central and Rift Valley.

“They asked whether we were buying T-shirts and water which I believe is just political and they are just politicking,” Gathiru said.

Gakuya also linked the questioning to the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party politics.

He was running against Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja for the UDA Nairobi county chairperson’s position.

“Anybody with any evidence of any facts of any mistake we did should come very clear and tell us ‘this particular day, you financed ABCD,” said Gakuya.

This brought to five the number of Gachagua allies who had been quizzed by the police.

The others were former MPs Ngujiri Wambugu (Nyeri town) and George Theuri (Embakasi West) as well as Gachagua’s private secretary Munene wa Mumbi.

Wambugu is DP Gachagua’s political advisor while Theuri is his youth advisor.

The three were questioned for hours at the DP’s Karen office on July 30 over claims that they too funded the anti-tax demos.

After this, Gathiru and Gakuya sued the DCI, the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Public Prosecution, and the Attorney General seeking to stop police from arresting them.

The MPs told Justice Chacha Mwita that the DCI had not told them what the interrogations were about.

“A conservatory order is hereby issued restraining the respondent, their agents, and or servants from arresting, detaining, confining, pursuing and or in any other way interfering with the petitioners' liberty in connection with the allegations giving rise to this petition until September 17, 2024,” ruled Justice Mwita on August 5.