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The MRC Raid and Due Process Guarantees...


Seeing the pictures of the MRC President – Omar Mwamnaudzi took me aback. Many Kenyans who want the MRC menace dealt with by the 'strong arm of the government' accuse the media of displaying the images in order to evoke public sympathy for their cause. 

Some questions however come to my mind. Remember the days of the struggle for multiparty democracy when people were brought to court very early morning or very late in the evening to take plea and answer to charges ranging from being in possession of seditious material to treason? Remember those men barely able walk, some on stretchers and wheel chairs, some supported by police officers and others too traumatized to even speak? Now think of the questions that have been raised by the Vetting of Judges and Magistrates Board when interviewing some of the judicial officers who condoned that system.

The Constitution is very clear on due process guarantees accorded to accused persons. The criminal justice process begins at the point of arrest. The judicial officers who presided over those trials cared little about whether the accused persons could even take plea. Carrying out their duties as a mere formality, many of them merely passed through the processes and convicted persons – some of who had no idea why they were being arraigned in court.

Seeing the alleged MRC President brought to court with a swollen bloody face unable to even stand on his feet brought back some of these memories. He allegedly belongs to (and leads) an outlawed group. The government insists on the group being outlawed yet a High Court decision bars the government from gazzetting the group as outlawed.

We have certainly come a long way, and in the wake of a new constitutional dispensation and a judiciary keen on ensuring reforms internally and in all other offices that transact with it, it would be unfortunate if the judicial officer presiding over the case of the accused persons’ alleged possession of firearms and other offensive weapons did not notice the state of the accused person and raised questions about his or their ability to take plea. A judicial officer conscious and aware about the protection of fundamental rights freedoms as part of the due process guarantees ought to question the prosecution about the reasons why the accused is in such a weak state.

The police want the group outlawed. It is unfortunate if those tasked with internal security are stuck in the archaic thinking that outlawing a group gives the government the green light to ‘work’ on the group – effectively denying them of any rights that are inherent and indivisible, and which are guaranteed by the constitution.

We can only hope that the current goings-on will not stain the ongoing judicial and police reforms. 

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