Kasipul MP murder probe: Court detains Philip Aroko for 7 days
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi has detained Philip Aroko, a person of interest in the murder of the late Kasipul Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Ong’ondo Were, for 7 days.
Delivering the ruling, Magistrate Gichobi said that Aroko presented himself to the Gigiri Police Station after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) issued an alert urging him to present himself to the nearest police station.
Additionally, she stated that presenting himself to the DCI showed that he was ready and willing to cooperate with the investigator.
“As such, I allow the application for custodial orders, but limited to seven calendar days,” Magistrate Gichobi ruled.
In a miscellaneous application filed at the JKIA Law Courts, DCI sought to detain Aroko for 30 days.
Meanwhile, Aroko requested the court to allow the DCI to detain him for five days instead of the 30 days they were seeking, terming them as crazy.
“Your honour, 30 days is just too crazy, being a citizen who has presented himself to the police and willing to cooperate during the investigations I urge this court to intervene and grant few days,” Aroko told the court.
Further, he told the court that he has already been cooperating with the investigative officers since the DCI put an alert of him as a wanted person and presented himself at the Gigiri police station.
He also asked the court to allow the DCI to detain him at the Kileleshwa police station instead of the proposed Kasarani police station, which he said is too far from his family.
In his submissions, Aroko stated that Kileleshwa is near his home, where his family can access him when they need him.
Earlier Milimani High Court had issued an order to the state to produce Aroko in court by Monday, May 12, 2025.
Issuing the order, Justice Alexander Muteti directed that the state should produce Aroko in court and explain why he was not arraigned in court or even released on bond.
“The applicant (Aroko) to be produced before this court on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 10 am for the respondents(DCI, DPP, AG and IG) to show cause why he should not be immediately released on bail or why his continued detention should be sanctioned by the court,” part of Justice Muteti’s orders read.
The matter will be mentioned on May 16, 2025, to confirm how far they have progressed with investigations and whether there is a need to extend the detention
