NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 15 – Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan Joho has obtained a court order blocking police from taking away his firearms or arresting him for declining to surrender the guns.
Justice George Odunga who issued the order Tuesday evening says police and Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery were acting in excess of their powers by ordering Joho to surrender his licensed guns.
According to the judge, it is only a court that can revoke one’s firearm certificate and not the police, in line with the new security laws.
He said the order by Nkaissery to have Joho arrested if he fails to surrender the weapons was biased because he had not been given a hearing as required by law.
Joho moved to court hours after Nkaissery ordered his arrest and prosecution for declining to surrender the firearms as directed by the police.
READ: Joho to Nkaissery: ‘I am not afraid, jails were built for men like me’