The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Wednesday, June 3, evening issued fresh details on a pastor filmed with South Mugirango Member of Parliament (MP) Silvanus Osoro, who was accused of being part of the protesters who stormed Parliament on June 25.
In a statement, the authority announced that Dennis Basweti was cleared on Wednesday, July 3, after he surrendered himself to the Kenyenya DCI offices and recorded a statement.
Basweti denied the allegations of being part of June’s Occupy Parliament protests after his photo was listed among the wanted persons.
The detectives also apologized to Basweti for mistakenly linking him to the violent protests.
According to the DCI statement, the clergyman informed the detectives that his widely shared photo was taken earlier, on June 10, 2024, when he visited Parliament at the invitation of his MP, Silvanus Osoro.
“The DCI wishes to exonerate Mr. Dennis Basweti whose photo was listed among the wanted persons. This is after he listened to the call by the DCI requiring the listed persons to visit the nearest DCI offices to assist in further investigations,” read part of the statement.
“The DCI has since confirmed that Mr. Dennis Basweti’s narrative is true, and has reached out to him with an apology, further commending him for believing in the DCI’s pledge to conduct investigations thoroughly and fairly.”
On Wednesday, the DCI published photos of individuals wanted for their involvement in unlawful activities during the recent Anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests.
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They urged the suspects featured in the images to surrender to the nearest police station for further action.
The Directorate published 38 images in total, noting that CCTV footage from various buildings, including Parliament, had captured the suspects participating in unlawful activities.
Osoro Defends Pastor After DCI Published his Photo
Osoro in a statement on July 3, clarified that Pastor Basweti had visited him in Parliament more than a week before the protests.
He added that the Basweti took photos and videos inside Parliament during his visit, which could have been mistaken for footage from the day of the protests.
“Pastor Basweti Dennis visited me in Parliament a month ago. I took him on a round tour of the chambers as he took selfies and videos with excitement. He posted them on his Facebook page on June 10, 2024,” said Osoro.
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According to Osoro, some Kenyans downloaded the pastor’s photos and videos during the protests and shared them online with the hashtag ‘tumefika bunge’.
This could have led to the police mistaking the footage for recent clips taken during the protests, which resulted in the pastor being listed among the wanted individuals.
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