Lawyer Diana Kethi Kilonzo is battling the IEBC in court. Photo/ FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 15 – The High Court has guaranteed lawyer Kethi Kilonzo freedom from arrest for the next 14 days after she moved to court to stop the police from detaining her over a stolen voter registration slip.
Lady Justice Lydia Achode gave the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko two weeks within which to study the investigations file and determine a way forward before the issue comes up again on August 29.
Kethi moved to court to protect herself from arrest after the Criminal Investigation Department concluded its probe over how she came about a voter’s slip that was removed from the same booklet only used to register former President Mwai Kibaki.
Her lawyer Harun Ndubi told journalists that it was necessary to move to court to seek the non-arrest assurance to guarantee Kethi’s constitutional rights and protect her from any humiliation that would follow her arrest.
“One can say in summary that we got the orders we were looking for in terms of securing the non-arrest of counsel Diana Kethi Kilonzo until the court advises otherwise 14 days from now,” explained Ndubi.
A lawyer representing the DPP Jacob Ondari added that Kethi would not be arrested before Tobiko directs the police to do so.
“The DPP can make a decision tomorrow but what we decided was that she should not be arrested. The matter will be heard in 14 days by which time the DPP will have made a decision whether to charge her or not,” he explained.
IEBC’s Director of Voter Registration and Electoral Operations Immaculate Kassait had during a tribunal hearing challenging Kethi’s nomination for the Makueni County Senate explained that the slip had been stolen.
“The Wiper candidate’s slip is not among those distributed anywhere in the country. The booklet where the slip was taken from was used to register the former President and five others went missing. The slip held by Kethi is among those missing,” she explained on July 6.
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