A man has been arraigned at the Kibera Law Courts where he is accused of allegedly using threats to demand property of Kakamega governor Fernandes Baraza.
William Simiyu Matere alias Elijah and others not before court was on Wednesday charged with two counts of demanding more than Sh240 million from the governor.
Back in Kakamega, it is said how Khalwale, on the eve of presenting his nomination papers, slaughters a bull and spends the night on its belly. Now its Fernandes Barasa. How a man will stand naked before a fellow man is beyond my wildest imaginations. Don’t admire these people!.
— Salahudin Archibong. (@Anziraniy) March 20, 2024
Police sought more time to hold him as they continue with investigations.
But the trial magistrate freed him on a Sh2 million bond and a surety of the same amount.
The case will be mentioned on March 27 for more directions from the court.
He was arrested on Monday, March 18, night after detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) laid a trap for him.
Matere was picked from an upmarket hotel in Nairobi where he had come to get the money after agreeing to a payout with the governor.
DCI allege that the person behind the extortion ring is a senior politician from the region and was a Cabinet Secretary in the Jubilee government Rashid Echesa.
According to the detectives, the politician has been playing hide and seek with them and they believe he is hiding in Nairobi County.
It is alleged that Matere is part of a ring that also faked a kidnapping incident involving the former CS Rashid Echesa where they demanded Sh1.5 billion to secure his release from the alleged kidnappers.
Police say that the ring had already received Sh5 million as ransom before it was discovered that the kidnapping was not real.
Former Rashid Echesa is among the ring that was extorting the governor and at one point even pretended to have been kidnapped when the governor threatened to go to court.
The governor had acquired the services of the witchdoctor popularly known as MGANGA ahead of the August 2022 election where won the gubernatorial race.
