Two people were on Friday, January 12, 2024, put on their defense over an incident where a helicopter that was carrying ODM leader Raila Odinga was stoned in Kabenes Uasin Gishu County.
A court in Eldoret that has been hearing the matter found the two with a case to answer over the incident.
The two, a trader and a farmer are facing several charges among them malicious damage to property, willfully and unlawfully destroying an aircraft and creating disturbance in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.
Court documents reveal the identity of the two accused as Abednego Kiptanui Kemboi and Kenneth Kipkogei Sawe.
They were presented before Senior Principal Magistrate Mogire Onkoba who is hearing the matter.
The prosecution told the court that the two attacked the chopper on April 1, 2022 during the burial of an Eldoret farmer cum politician Jackson Kibor in Kabenes area of Soy Sub County.
According to the charge sheet, the two together with others not before court while in the farm of the late Kibor, unlawfully caused damages to the helicopter at front windscreen and right side screen.
The damages to the helicopter have since been valued at Ksh577,500.
How many arrested over Raila chopper incident?
In addition, the two are accused of endangering the safety of passengers and the aircraft in flight.
When the duo first appeared in court on April 27, 2022, they denied the charges.
The court later released each of them on a Ksh300,000 bond with similar surety.
Initially police had arrested 17 people in relation to the incident but 15 of them were released after DCI detectives led by Richard Polo told the court that there was no evidence linking them to the offense.
The incident sparked an uproar from various leaders’ countrywide bearing in mind it occurred during the 2022 fiercely contested general election campaigns.
