On September 13, 2021, Bungoma Chief Magistrate Stephen Mugute announced that the State had decided to pursue the trial of Kimilili MP Didmus Barasa in connection with violence during the Kabuchai by-election.
Barasa's colleagues, Nandi Senator Samson Cherangei, Nandi MP Wilson Kogo, and Belgut's Nelson Koech, were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. They were arrested in March along with Barasa during the by-election in Kabuchai, Bungoma.
According to the court, the case against Barasa will be mentioned on September 25, 2021, to determine an appropriate date for its hearing. He will be served with relevant documents by the prosecution before the said date.
Barasa also faces an alternate count of refusing to present his fingerprints after his arrest at Bungoma Police Station. The freed lawmakers, Cherangei, Kogo, and Koech, expressed their joy at being freed and applied for the refund of their cash bail, which was successfully granted.
Police had claimed that the four lawmakers were key elements in fanning pockets of violence that erupted during the March Kabuchai by-elections, where Majimbo Kalasinga of Ford-Kenya received 19,000 votes to beat his closest competitor Evans Kakaki of UDA, who bagged 6,000 votes.
Barasa, a first-time lawmaker, is also facing a charge of assaulting and causing grievous bodily harm to Benga artiste Stephen Masinde (Steve Kay) at the Kimilili law courts. He denied the charge and is free on a Sh150,000 cash bail pending a hearing.
