NAIROBI, Kenya Aug 2 – Kimilili Member of Parliament Didmus Baraza was charged Monday following arrest over assault of a contractor Stephen Wekesa Masinde who is also a musician popularly known as Steve Kay.
The MP was arrested Monday following a viral video in which he was seen assaulting a contractor at a school in his constituency over a Sh3.4 million pay dispute.
He denied the charge and was freed on a Sh100,000 cash bail.
The bail terms include an order to refrain from intimidating the complainant or his witnesses.
The contractor had gone to demand some Sh3.4 million owed to him for renovating Lurare primary school in Kamukunywa Ward in the constituency when the legislator assaulted him for locking classrooms to block the ceremony at the weekend.
A charge sheet presented in court showed that he inflicted grivous bodily harm to one Stephen Wekesa Masinde.
In the video that went viral, the contractor is heard saying he had unsuccessfully chased the payment from the MP through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in vain.
“The MP just told me to proceed and finish the work but has declined to pay me and there is an excuse every time I ask for the payment,” Masinde said.
The MP had arrived at the school ready to launch five renovated classrooms when he realised that they were locked by the contractor who was also present.
The MP insists his actions were justified, “Just like Jesus found people trading on the temple, I was equally angered when I saw children outside. I am also a human being.”
He said the contractor was bit justified to close the classrooms even if he had not been paid.
“He came in with drunkards and unilaterally closed the classrooms. The only people who have the powers to close classroom is President Uhuru Kenyatta, Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha and the courts,” the MP said.
Speaking to journalists after the court session, the MP blamed his political detractors of manipulating the viral video, saying he did not hurt Masinde.
“I mean surely, Masinde came to court with bandages on his hand and yet the video tells otherwise. This is all political but I shall overcome,” he said.
The case is set to be heard on September 27, 2020.
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