City lawyer-cum-activist David Morara Kebaso has been released on a Sh50,000 cash bail with one contact person required in his cyber harassment case at the Milimani Law Courts.
The prosecution suffered a blow after the defence counsels scuttled the plea taking.
The defence team led by senior counsel Martha Karua, Eric Theuri, Willis Otieno Njiru Ndegwa, and Aisha Bashir, among others, told Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina that the charge sheet drawn by the prosecution is defective.
They told the court their client cannot plead to the defective charge sheet and that the charge sheet does not disclose an offence allegedly committed by their client.
The battery of lawyers’ also added that the charge sheet does not disclose who is a complainant on the alleged offence of cybercrime.
Morara was presented before Chief Magistrate Onyina who is set to rule on October 4, 2024 on whether the activist will face the charges or not.
Earlier, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) recommended charging Kebaso with harassment for allegedly staining the reputation of Uasin Gishu businessman David Langat.
According to the charge sheet, the ODPP accuses Kebaso of cyber harassment under Section 27 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, 2018.
He is alleged to have committed the offense on September 28, 2024, at an undisclosed location, along with others not before the court.
The charge sheet claims that Kebaso accused Langat of helping finance President William Ruto’s campaign through loans secured by Langat’s properties.
“William Ruto approached the businessman asking for campaign funds. Langat used his properties as collateral to secure large loans for his friend,” the charge sheet reads.
His lawyers, led by Ndegwa Njiru, objected to the charges, arguing that they were defective because they did not disclose the complainant.
“Particulars must relate to the subject. The charge sheet is defective, since it does not disclose the complainant, is it Ruto or Langat?” Njiru posed.
The ODPP also seeks to charge Kebaso for alleging that banks are auctioning the tycoon’s properties and that President Ruto is purchasing them at undervalued prices.
Kebaso, known for using social media to expose alleged corruption in public projects, was arrested yesterday at his Kahawa Sukari office in Kiambu.
He was forcibly taken to the Nairobi Regional Police headquarters and freed later in the night.
