This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
Published on July 8, 2020, a magistrate in Kenya issued an interim gag order against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), and the media in the attempted murder case against Embakasi East MP Babu Owino.
The order, which will remain in force until August 8, was issued by Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi after Owino's lawyers sought the court's intervention to bar discussion of the matter outside the court.
The gag order was sought by Owino's lawyers to prevent the media from discussing the merits of the case, but Senior Assistant DPP Jacinta Nyamosi argued that Owino has also been commenting on the case.
Lawyer Cliff Ombeta raised an objection, accusing the office of the DPP of inciting Embakasi East constituents to recall Owino as Member of Parliament.
“The DPP has gone publicly on record asking the members of his constituency to recall him. He has gone out of his mandate and therefore if he is going to stand here he needs to avoid that political angle,” Ombeta said.
