Lawyers representing former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa have issued a demand following his arrest in an investigation into claims of extortion.
The lawyers of the former CS demanded for his release on March 28, 2024, on medical grounds as police investigate the matter arguing that it is within his constitutional right.
Echesa’s defense team demanded for the release of their client on Police Bond ahead of his arraignment in court.
According to lawyer Danstan Omari, Echesa was being detained over claims of extortion which he said they didn’t know about.
“We have been allowed to see him. We understand they are investigating claims of extortion and abduction which we don’t know more about,” he said.
Omari while demanding for his release argued that no amount of money claimed to be extorted by the current chairman of Kenya Water Towers was revealed and from whom.
Lawyers Demand for Release
The lawyer further said that the case had no complainant, adding that his client was the one who reported the case first.
“There is no complainant in this case. Also, when you look at it, my client is the one who first reported the case but now he’s the one being detained,” added Omari.
Lawyer Omari further said that they would be making an application for his release saying that it was a matter of life and death.
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The lawyers were speaking outside the Muthaiga Police Station where Echesa was being detained.
Echesa was held over allegations of obtaining money by false pretense, cyber bullying, and conspiracy to commit fraud.
He was booked at the Muthaiga Police Station on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, after he presented himself at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters where he was grilled for 4 hours.
It is alleged that the former CS with others obtained money by false pretense in an extortion racket targeting Kakamega Governor Fernandez Barasa. The Kenya Water Towers chairman is set to be charged on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.
According to police, Echesa has been evading their dragnet in efforts to grill him for possible prosecution.
Echesa records statement
Prior to his arrest, the former CS had on March 18th recorded a statement at Central Police Station claiming that he was abducted by unknown persons.
Echesa told police that he was on March 5 abducted within the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).
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According to the statement, he was blindfolded by armed men, bundled inside a Subaru Car and taken to a forest within Karen.
He further claimed that the abductors allegedly tortured and warned him against interfering with the leadership of Kakamega County before being dumped by the unknown gunmen.
The police statement further indicated that the former CS claimed that he was afraid of his abductors which made him take two weeks to report the matter.
Earlier, videos circulating on social media showed a man resembling the former CS seated in a forest while blindfolded.
In the videos seen by The Kenya Times, the man who had his hands and legs tied was seen begging for his life.
Additionally, another video of a man resembling Echesa surfaced online showing him in the boot of a car.
The man could be seen talking to another person while handcuffed.
His arrest came a week after a man whom police said was a handler to the former CS was charged.
The handler was on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, charged at the Kibera Law Courts for extorting over Ksh240 million from Governor Barasa.
He appeared before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Ann Mwangi where he was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit a felony and demanding property with menace.
Echesa is also involved in a Ksh29 billion fake arms case.
