tOn Thursday, March 20, 2025, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) requested that the court extend the imprisonment period for James Mbuvi Wangunze, a former member of the Chuluni County Assembly (MCA), and his associates so that investigators may finish their job.
Obiri Geoffrey, a lawyer for the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP), informed the court that the suspects had disregarded the court’s orders by refusing to provide the investigating officer with access to their four phones.
Lawyer Obiri told the court, “The respondents have not provided their phone patterns, passwords, and PINs, which is in violation of the court’s orders, and they should not be permitted to continue with such contempt.”
In order for the IO to finish the investigations, Obiri asked the court to permit them to hold the suspects for further days and implement the orders.
John Otieno Nyagara, the chief investigator, stepped to the dock to inform the court that the suspects had been pretending to forget the PINs and passwords to their phones.
According to Nyagara, the three individuals who are accused of extorting and coercing government officials under the guise of being Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers have vehemently refused to provide their pins and passwords.
“In order for us to access the data on their phones and finish investigations, the suspects have been stating that they are not in a good state of mind to remember their passwords and PINs,” IO Nyagara told the court.
Nyagara informed the court during his appearance before Chief Magistrate Harrison Baraza that the four phones they had refused to give the suspects access to contain extremely important information concerning government officials who were extorted by them.
He also informed the court that the investigations would not be finished without the data from the four phones.
Additionally, Nyagara informed the court that he had already recorded statements from the counties of Siaya, Machakos, and Nairobi.
Other statements from Kajiado, Kisumu, and other regions of the nation have not yet been recorded by him.
Furthermore, IO Nyagara informed the court that because the other eight phones the suspects were found with were buttons and without passwords, they were able to access information on them.
The suspect’s attorney, however, vehemently disagreed with the EACC motion, claiming that the court had given them the six days they had requested to finish the investigations.
The attorney asked the court to reject the EACC’s appeal to keep the suspects in custody, calling it malicious. He said that the accused had been cooperating during the investigations.
The attorney informed the court that the respondents were not directly ordered to provide their passwords and personal numbers.
Until the state completes its investigations, he requested the court to either charge the respondents or release them.
Chief Magistrate Harrison Baraza ordered the suspects to be in jail until Friday, March 21, 2025, at 2:00 PM, when a decision would be made regarding their continued detention.
