Court rejects DPP's bid to cancel bail for SSU officers charged with killing two Indians, taxi driver

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) seeking to cancel the bail granted to officers from the disbanded Special Services Unit (SSU).

The judges noted that both the Magistrate’s court and the High Court had found no compelling reasons to deny bail and had exercised their discretion in granting it.

The matter was heard on Wednesday regarding the DPP's application to cancel the bail of 15 accused persons, who had previously been released by the Kahawa Court and later by the High Court.

The application was dismissed on the grounds that it lacked merit and that the DPP had not provided sufficient reasons or grounds to warrant the lifting of the bail terms.

The Court of Appeal, consisting of Prof. Joel Ngugi, Lydia Achode, and Patrick Kiage, dismissed the application, finding that both the Magistrate’s court and the High Court had exercised their discretion judiciously based on the evidence provided by the State, and there were no compelling reasons to deny bail.

DPP counsel were pressed to justify their appeal, with the court questioning what new and compelling facts they had to warrant denying bail to the 15 officers.

State Counsel JV Owiti struggled to explain why the application lacked material facts as required, instead relying on the same arguments already rejected by the lower courts.

Owiti argued that the officers’ experience made them likely to interfere with witnesses, given the seriousness of the charges.

Despite maintaining that they were rightly before the court, Owiti urged the Court of Appeal to stay the bail ruling issued by the Kiambu High Court.

However, the judges challenged this approach, stating, "Rule 5(2)(a) gives us the power to grant bail pending appeal, but here you are asking us to cancel bail already granted by the court. Bail is a right unless there are compelling reasons."

Defense lawyers Clinton Mwale, Danstan Omari, and Wandugi informed the court that the case under appeal stemmed from an abduction charge before the Kahawa Law Courts, which was later stayed by the High Court after the accused were charged with murder.

The 15 officers, most of whom were attached to the disbanded SSU, had been charged with abducting two Indian nationals and a taxi driver.

While the Magistrate’s court initially granted them bail, the DPP appealed to the High Court, which upheld the bail ruling.