PHILO IKONYA AND JACOB ODIPO RELEASED-NO CHARGES

In The Photo,Advocate Mbugua Mureithi and Philo Ikonya(in a sackcloth) outside the Kibera law courts moments after Mbugua Mureithi argued out successfully and the magistrate ruled that Jacob Odipo and Philo Ikonya had been unlawfully detained.Looking on is Tariq Jeptebkeny(in the background). picture by Gacheke Gachihi. -- Dear fellow Kenyans and friends of Kenya, This morning, Philo Ikonya and Jacob Odipo appeared before Magistrate Ireri in Kibera Law courts to answer to charges brought against them for allegedly participating in an unlawful assembly. They had been arrested yesterday while demonstrating outside Integrity House in protest of the re-appointment of Aaron Ringera. The two have today been released by Magistrate Ireri since the charge sheets produced by the prosecution were improper for not citing the relevant section of the penal code under which Philo and Odipo had been held overnight in custody. Thank you for any way in which you supported Bunge la Mwananchi in this regard. We urge you to continue to be heard as we speak and act against the culture of impunity in Kenya. Your voice counts. Sincerely, George Nyongesa Bunge la Mwananchi PO Box 456, 00606, Sarit Centre, Nairobi Webiste: www.bungelamwananchi.org Alternate Email: mwananchibunge@gmail.com Tel: +254 720 451 235 THEY WERE REPRESENTED AND THE CASE WAS COMPETENTLY ARGUED OUT AND WON BY LAWYER MBUGUA MUREITHI

PHILO IKONYA AND JACOB ODIPO ARRESTED PROTESTING AGAINST IMPUNITY

PHILO IKONYA AND JACOB ODIPO ARRESTED PROTESTING AGAINST IMPUNITY BUNGE LA MWANANCHI –UNITED FRONT FOR CHANGE movement leaders Philo Ikonya(who is also president of International PEN-Kenya chapter) and Jacob Odipo were yesterday morning arrested while protesting against the illegal re-appointment of the incompetent Anti corruption chief Aaron Ringera and the just sacked police commissioner major General Hussein Ali and the attorney general Amos Wako who happen to be the main individuals whose tenure in their respective offices have moved Kenya to institutionalization of impunity as a way of life. .I woke up at 6am yesterday and prepared to go to the high court because two important cases were of public interest; one filed by Kenyans against impunity lobby group contesting the credibility of persons appointed to run the truth justice and reconciliation commission (TJRC) and another one filed by Okiya Omtatah against the re-appointment of Aaron Ringera to head the Kenya anti-corruption commission. They were being heard before high court judge Muga Apondi.we had scheduled that after the court sessions we were going to stage a reading together titled impunity brings disunity, a poem written by Philo. It happened that after the Kiplagat case (filed by the Kenyans against impunity lobby group) session had been done; we went to address the press outside the court. While addressing the press, Odipo called Gacheke Gachihi informing him that he along with Philo had been arrested outside the integrity centre and they had been taken to Kilimani police station. So we consulted among ourselves and we resolved to move to Kilimani police station.Gacheke Gachihi, Kenedy Kirimi, Patrick kamotho, Samson Ojiayo and I (Fwamba nc Fwamba) left the high court and proceeded to the police station where the two comrades are being held. We managed to get to Kilimani police station at about 1pm where we demanded from the policeman on the reporting desk about the welfare of our arrested comrades. We were referred to OC crime, a lady who said that’ why don’t we protest against Raila, why are you only protesting against Ringera and other of Kibaki’s appointments’. In the OB, Odipo and Philo had been accused of holding illegal demonstration while carrying placards reading ‘Ali must go’, and ‘Ring-era(Aaron) another Kibaki error’ and ‘Wako (Amos) must go’. its by such coincidence that by the time we were meeting this lady to enquire about the nature of charges being leveled against our comrades, Major Hussein Ali had already been demoted to the position of post master general and most of the police officers were not yet aware of this yet. We returned to the reporting desk where we requested to see Philo and Odipo.we were able to see Odipo at that time who explained to us the circumstances under which they were arrested as they expressed themselves about the dissatisfaction and impunity perpetrated by the leadership of Kenyan government. We were not able to see Philo at that time . We sent messages and called other leaders of the civil society .Gacheke called a number of human rights lawyers among whom included Mbugua Mureithi. After talking to Odipo we sought intervention of the Kenya national commission on human rights (KNCHR), so given the proximity from the police station, we decided to go to the offices at the CVS plaza. on the way we met Suba Churchill who told us he had just met Omar Hassan (the vice chairman of KNCHR).so based on that information we sped up because by consensus we agreed that it would be very advantageous for us to get Hassan there because he is someone believed to more understanding especially on the issues that are politically inclined. When we got to KNCHR, we were told that Hassan had just left. Samson Ojiayo called him but the answer was that he was on his way to the airport. We were attended to a legal officer Mr. Julius maina, who handled the process professionally. We recorded a complaint that was jointly signed by Samson Ojiayo, Patrick Kamotho, Kenedy Kirimi, and I(Fwamba NC Fwamba).the statement asked the commission to take action based on its mandate as defined in the act. While we were still working on nitty-gritties of the statement, Hassan came back, the assumption is that he might have forgotten something; he greeted us and left immediately saying that the legal officers were going to take care of the situation. After he left we shared the same discussion with mike Okelloh ‘another lawyer at KNCHR, who advised us according to his work responsibilities. So we left with a copy of the statement, mike promised to talk to the OCS Kilimani to get the police side of the story. To cut the long story short, no form of tangible immediate intervention came from this front. We continued talking to other human rights defenders on phone, we were able to get in touch with Bunge la Mwananchi leader, George Nyongesa,Secretary general of international PEN Kenya chapter;Kingwa Kamencu ,Hillary Mulialia,Tariq Jeptebkeny,Gladwel Otieno of Africog and others. After consulting among ourselves, we left KNCHR offices and went to look for lunch for we were too hungry. While we were taking lunch just opposite the police station, KK arrived and called. So we joined her outside the police station and send arrest alerts to all comrades. we were able to talk to the OCS ,who introduced himself as a Mr.Gachago who told us that we could obtain a police bond for them, but since it was a CID case ,they were still handling ‘preliminaries’ and therefore he asked us to wait for one hour. At that time they were taking Odipo and Philo for fingerprints and people around were still celebrating Ali’s Exit from heading the disgraced Kenya police force. We eventually happened to have an opportunity to talk to Philo. Within the ‘one hour ‘ of waiting, senior counsel Mbugua Mureithi and Africog CEO Gladwell Otieno and Mr. James Mugo came with other people.The trio talked to the OCS,and then to the cid who gave a promise that they were going to release Philo and Odipo on cash bail. We waited but nothing positive came out. By 7.30pm, we were still waiting for feedback from the CID that is when Hakima and other leaders of the Bunge La Mwananchi-United Front for Change movement Hillary Mulialia, Tariq Jeptebkeny came. By 8.00pm when we left, Philo Ikonya and Jacob Odipo were still being held at Kilimani police station, where they are most likely to spend their night awaiting being arraigned in court today where the police intend to charge them with alleged illegal demonstration or any of those malicious allegations related to that. All are called to come to court today as a solidarity statement. VIVA PHILO, VIVA ODIPO!!!!! ALUTA CONTINUA ONE CHICKEN HAS CROSSED THE ROAD; SOON ALL THE CHICKEN WILL COME HOME TO ROOST. FWAMBA NC FWAMBA