This archive report was first published on 30 October 2019.
On October 30, 2019, a High Court in Kakamega made a landmark ruling in favor of former Sports and Heritage CS, Rashid Echesa, ordering the DCI to return a firearm, a firearm certificate book, and a magazine loaded with ammunition.
The court, presided over by Justice Jesse Njagi, characterized the actions by the state to confiscate the Beretta pistol belonging to Mr. Echesa as unlawful, unreasonable, and an abuse of power.
Justice Njagi further declared that the DCI's conduct of arbitrarily arresting and incarcerating Mr. Echesa for two days without a justifiable cause was an abuse of his fundamental right to freedom and security, as enshrined in Article 29 of the Constitution.
The former cabinet secretary had been detained on suspicion of involvement in killings that occurred in Matungu, Kakamega, between March and May 2019, where 20 people were butchered by a militia.
Mr. Echesa's pistol was confiscated on May 17, shortly after he was arrested after attending a political function in Ikolomani constituency where DP Ruto was in attendance.
On May 19, Echesa was acquitted without charges after the office of the DPP said there was insufficient evidence to continue holding him in custody.
