Court dismisses case against Molo MCA Joseph Ngware, citing lack of evidence for detention

There was jubilation at the Nakuru Law Courts when Molo Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Joseph Ngware and his personal assistant were released on a Sh50,000 bond each.

The two were arrested on Thursday following claims that, on June 24, 2025, Mr Ngware and his assistant had held secret meetings with local youths and instructed them to attack the Molo police station, municipal offices and judiciary offices.

In an affidavit, the investigating officer, Corporal Harrison Mayaka, had requested for an additional 21 days to detain the suspects at Nakuru Central Police Station while he conducted his investigation.

"The accused were directly involved in financing the hired youths by giving them a motivation fee ranging from Sh200 as a stipend to facilitate their operations during the June 25 Gen Z demonstration," read the court documents.

The affidavit also stated that the accused were seen in Molo township physically handing money to groups of hired youths, giving them clear instructions to attack and destroy the sub-county municipal offices.

The court was informed that the accused had provided a clear motive for the planned attack on the sub-county offices, citing the recent impeachment of the Molo MCA as deputy speaker of the Nakuru County Assembly, which they claimed was masterminded by the current governor of Nakuru County.

The prosecutor also informed the court that the suspects would interfere with witnesses and the ongoing investigation, and cited this as a compelling reason to deny the suspects bail.

Peter Okiro, the advocate representing Mr Ngware, opposed the application, stating that the police had had ample time since June 25 to conduct investigations before arresting his clients on July 3.

“In criminal matters, the procedure is to investigate before arresting someone. But here, the police had already arrested Mr Ngware, and then came to court asking for more time to investigate him, which was very peculiar,” he said.

The advocate also notes that another strange thing was that the supporting affidavit in support of their application was commissioned by Advocate Owino Oenga, who is in Mr Ngware’s legal team.

‘There was an element of malice today. From what we can see, this was simply a case of gathering documents and presenting them in court. This is because Mr Oenga, Mr Ngware’s advocate, cannot commission an affidavit that seeks to incriminate his client,” Mr Okiro said.

In her ruling, the Senior Resident Magistrate Priscillah Nyota stated that the suspects were arrested on July 3, more than seven days after the protests. If the suspects had been arrested on the day of the protests or even the day after, one might believe the likelihood of them interfering with witnesses.

"Making an arrest seven days later and alleging that witnesses are being interfered with is self-defeating, because if there were any witnesses, they would have been interfered with by now," she said.

“Ultimately, I find no compelling reason to justify the detention of the suspects. The investigating officer had seven days to conduct investigations prior to arrest and must have had sufficient evidence to charge the suspects,” she said.