Kenyan lawyer to defend 23 Ugandans

Sep 18, 2006

A KENYAN lawyer who acted for 23 Ugandan treason suspects in Kenya said yesterday he would represent them when their trial starts in Uganda.

By Reuben Olita
in Nairobi

A KENYAN lawyer who acted for 23 Ugandan treason suspects in Kenya said yesterday he would represent them when their trial starts in Uganda.

Arimi Kimathi of Karimi Kimathi and Company Advocates in Nairobi said his clients wanted him to represent them in the treason trial. He claimed that Ugandan lawyers were scared of repercussions from the Government if they engaged in the case.

However, Kimathi said he would only travel to Kampala if the Uganda Government guarantees his security. “I need assurance that nothing will happen to me while in the country to represent my clients. They need a fair hearing,” he said.

Asked who would foot his legal fees, Kimathi said, “My clients have their financiers in an African country.” He declined to name the country.

Kenya police extradited the 25 suspects, including two Kenyans, on September 9 at Malaba border under the cover of darkness after the Kenya government dropped their charges of being illegally present in Kenya. The group is being held at the Kampala Central Police Station.

They were part of 28 people arrested by the Kenyan police in Bungoma on July 26. They were on a minibus said to have been heading to Uganda’s border town of Lwakhakha that is shared by Teso and Bungoma districts in Kenya.

Kimathi raised security issues following his arrest by Nairobi police moments after he arrived from representing the Ugandans in Bungoma.

Although he was released on a free bond after two days in custody, Kimathi suspects that Kenyan and Ugandan authorities connived to arrest him in order to stop him from filing an appeal against the deportation of the suspects.

Kimathi said he intended to sue the Kenyan government over his arrest and detention for two days without any grounds.

Reports in Nairobi said the command leader of the rebel group, self-styled Lt. Col. John Mungoma, has sought a pardon from President Yoweri Museveni whose government the rebel Uganda Freedom Front wanted to topple.

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