Journalist in court over murdering patron in Umoja pub

Piece by: star.writer
Lifestyle

A TV journalist suspected to have assaulted to death a man in a club in Umoja Estate is under investigation.

Antony Nyongesa Namasaka of Nyota TV was arraigned before a Makadara court together with his accomplice Kennedy Muyale for killing a man after a fight in a club.

Lawrence Okoth died at Kenyatta National hospital while undergoing treatment.

Police sought 14 days to detain the suspects pending investigations.

Police commander Peter Kamau told the court the offence took place at Dallas pub in Umoja on May 16 where the Okoth was having drinks.

He died the following day.

"The deceased died at the hospital while undergoing treatment and a postmortem conducted indicates he died from injuries of a blunt object. I need more time to record statements from other customers who were at the pub the day the deceased was beaten," Kamau told the court.

The suspects were arrested on May 31 after a report was made on May 21.

The application was opposed by the suspects who claimed they were permanent employees and if detained they may lose their jobs.

Namasaka told the court he is a journalist with Nyota TV and his family depends on his job for their livelihood.

Muyale also pleaded to be released on bail saying he works with Air Kenya in the operations department.

They all pleaded for bond saying they are genuine individuals and will appear before the investigating officer whenever needed.

The prosecution, however, maintained that they be detained since no materials had been shown in court to prove that they are employees of the said companies "and allegations against them are very serious".

The chief magistrate ruled that constitutionally, they are entitled to bond and considered their plea of losing their jobs if detained.

"I grant you a bail of Sh300,000 or a bond of Sh100,000 each," he said.

He ordered that each suspect deposit their job documents in court before being released and they must appear before the investigating officer whenever needed.

The case will be mentioned on June 17.

-The Star