Former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju’s case at Kibera Law Courts on charges of giving false information to a police officer failed to kick off after he was admitted at Karen Hospital for treatment.
According to the charge sheet, Tuju lied to Karen Police Station OCS that he was being trailed by unknown people and later abducted.
His defence lawyers strongly opposed his plea taking asking the court to defer the matter and grant him a free bond until he’s declared fit by the doctors.
The Court said it will give directions on the matter on Tuesday.
Acting for Tuju, Kalonzo Musyoka, alongside a battery of lawyers, urged Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo to defer the matter until their client is discharged from hospital and declared fit to stand trial.
On the other hand, the prosecution maintained that it would be proper for the charges of giving false information to a police officer to be read in absentia.
Tuju’s defence team further alleged that he has been subjected to persistent harassment by police, and sought anticipatory bail to shield him from what they termed as further arbitrary arrests.
The developments mark the latest twist in the tribulations surrounding the former Cabinet Secretary without portfolio, who also served as Secretary-General of the former ruling Jubilee Party.
Tuju was arrested on Monday and booked at Karen Police Station following allegations that he staged his own abduction.
Speaking during a press briefing, Mohamed Amin, Director of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), claimed that Tuju had staged the incident and had been at his Karen home since Friday.
Amin questioned why a family member reported Tuju missing for several hours yet was initially reluctant to cooperate fully with police and share critical information with investigating officers.
The DCI said the missing person report triggered an urgent, coordinated multi-agency response involving uniformed officers, detectives, and plain-clothes investigators who were deployed late at night to secure Tuju’s residence.
“Following the initial report, the National Police Service escalated the matter with urgency, deploying a coordinated multi-agency response. The operation included uniformed officers, experienced detectives, and plain-clothes investigators who were immediately deployed to secure the location, particularly the residence of Raphael Tuju. The deployment began late at night,” Amin noted.
Amin said Tuju’s homestead was cordoned off to preserve what he described as a potential scene and to prevent interference with evidence.
Tuju later resurfaced, which, according to investigators, confirmed earlier suspicions that the disappearance had been staged rather than constituting an actual abduction.
