Wycliffe Nyamasege
A Nairobi court has acquitted Ruaraka Member of Parliament TJ Kajwang of treason charges.
Kajwang was in February 2018 charged at the Ngong Law Courts with consenting the administration of an oath on National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga, action authorities said, bound the NASA chief to commit a capital offence of treason.
In a ruling delivered on Wednesday, Chief Magistrate Stephen Mbungi stated that the oath of the “People’s President” that Raila took was not illegal as he did not use it to commit a crime.
“From the content of the oath, Hon Raila Odinga swore himself to the office of the people’s president which does not amount to any crime. He would have only breached the law if he swore himself as the president of the Republic of Kenya,” ruled Mbungi.
The magistrate further noted that the prosecution didn’t prove that Kajwang consented to swear in Raila and that it was wrong to think that the lawyer assumed the position of the Chief Justice during the ceremony by his mode of dressing or appearance.
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“The attire he wore that day is the normal one worn by advocates of the High Court and to me there is no law or rule which restricts when and where it can be worn,” said Mbungi.
Kajwang, who was accused of committing the offence on January 30, 2018, at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, denied treason charges on February 7.
The lawmaker faced a second account of taking part in unlawful assembly without notifying the OCPD Nairobi.
On the charge, the judge stated that the prosecution didn’t prove that Kajwang planned the event.
“The fact that the accused is a known member of NASA cannot make the court to assume that he was concerned with organising the event since it is possible the meeting was organized by other people and he was only one of the invited guests,” ruled the magistrate.
The judge ruled that TJ Kajwang has no case to answer
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The dust on the January 2018 mock swearing-in of Raila as the “People’s President” seem to have settled after the March 9, 2018, handshake with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Raila, a former critic of President Kenyatta’s government, now enjoys a cordial relationship with the President.
He is quoted saying the handshake has brought peace to the country that was divided in the middle.
However, the political truce continues to be criticized by lawyer Miguna Miguna who helped Kajwang administer the oath.
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Miguna, currently in exile in Canada, says Raila received a hefty cheque and forgot about the “liberation” of the people from the jubilee regime.
Miguna was forced out of the country after being in police custody for days following his arrest.
In February 2018, the High Court awarded him Ksh7 million as compensation for the violation of his rights during his deportation to Canada.
In his ruling Justice Enoch Chacha Mwita said the barrister’s deportation was unlawful and in violation of the Constitution.
The fiery lawyer, through his social media handles, has continued to appeal to the government to grant him unconditional re-entry into the country.
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