A Chief Magistrate sitting in Milimani Law Court on Wednesday (10.07.19) dismissed an application by the State seeking to hold Dennis Itumbi for nine more days.
Itumbi who is being investigated in relation to a letter alluding to a plot to assassinate Deputy President William Ruto was consequently released on a cash bail of Sh100,000. The court directed him to report once a week to the investigating officer at Muthaiga police station for the next 14 days.
He was required to surrender his passport to the court to guarantee future appearances. Senior Resident Magistrate Zainabu Abdul also directed the police to return his phone within two weeks.
Abdul said that the investigating team has not shown the court the progress made so far after they were granted five more days to hold Itumbi when they presented him in court on July 4th 2019 following his arrest on July 3rd 2019.
“The court has not been told how many statements have been recorded from 256 members of Tanga Tanga group who are spread across the country,” the magistrate noted.
The prosecution had told the court Itumbi belonged to a 256-member WhatsApp group where the letter alluding to an assassination plot was shared adding that members of the chat room are under investigation.
The court observed that police admitted having taken some documents for digital analysis, which does not require his presence. The magistrate further disagreed with the prosecutor that Itumbi, if released he will interfere with investigations given his influence and being an officer based at the Office of the President.
The Presiding Magistrate was told this morning, that investigations are not complete. “A conclusive report is very crucial to the ongoing investigations over the alleged assassination of the Deputy President William Ruto,” the court heard.
The Investigating team is yet to record statements from 256 members of the WhatsApp group Itumbi is said to be a member which includes Cabinet Secretaries lawmakers and Governors.
The matter will be mentioned on July 22 to confirm the progress made in ongoing investigations.
This article was first published by Capital News.
