Six of the 83 people arrested after they were allegedly found in possession of bhang while participating in Rastafarian prayer party in a bar in Kenol town, Murang’a County, have been detained for seven days to allow police conclude their investigations.
The rest were charged with being drunk and disorderly.
The six were Peter Kiragu, (the owner of the pub), Eva Wambui (organiser of the prayer party) Morrison Ndungu (the party’s MC) Kennedy Odour and Dominic Sitati (the DJs) and Dennis Maina, the alleged peddler of the bhang.
Investigating Officer Haron Kamuren told the court that while acting on a tip off from members of public, they raided the bar known as Le Zeros Club and found the suspects with 81 rolls of bhang in the DJ’s desk wrapped in a bag.
146 BHANG ROLLS
He told the court that the suspected peddler was arrested with 146 rolls of bhang inside the bar.
According to Mr Kiragu, the suspects had created a WhatsApp group through which they organised the event while seeking for a supplier of the bhang during the event.
“The members of the WhatsApp group dubbed Rastafarian Prayer Party were chatting the way forward on how they could get [the] main supplier of bhang during the event. They were also planning on how to unlawfully administer oaths to recruits,” the police officer told the court.
The officer pleaded with the court to grant him seven days to conclude investigations, saying they impounded a vehicle belonging to the owner of the pub which they believe has more bhang.
ESTABLISH SOURCE
He added that police also want to establish the source of the illegal drug.
The suspects’ lawyer, Kelvin Kinyua, told the court that it is the Rastafarian religion which is on trial, noting that all the arrested persons had the same hair style and that their rights to religion are being violated.
He expressed his dissatisfaction in the manner in which the police were carrying out investigations, claiming that they destroyed the club’s property and assaulted clients.
“The police assaulted my clients during the arrest and took away the pub owner’s property including laptops and the CCTV cameras. They will be filing a complaint with the police,” the lawyer told the court.
SEVEN DAYS PROBE
Senior Resident Magistrate Agnetta Ogonda gave the detectives seven days to conclude investigations.
“Police have seven days to conclude investigations and I have given them a search warrant to look into the car belonging to one of the suspects. The matter will be mentioned on July 8,” she ruled.
The magistrate released the other suspects charged with being drunk and disorderly and ordered them to work at the law courts for one day.
The arrest of the suspects comes in the wake of an increased uptake of drugs in Murang’a County, with detectives noting that drug peddlers have come up with ways of dressing that would only attract their clients.
SCHOOLS AND DRUGS
Murang’a South Police Commander John Ondit says school children are engaged in drug abuse and called on locals to continue helping the police in the fight against drugs.
“Some are pretending to be Akorinos and others Rastafarians with bhang-related contents in their dressings for easier identification by their clients but we are going for them” Mr Ondit Said.
He added that the traffickers have taken advantage of the busy Nairobi-Kenol-Moyale road along which bhang is transported hidden in petroleum tankers.
NACADA STUDY
In a recent study by Nacada, Murang’a County was leading in drug abuse in Mt Kenya region, with Maragua MP Mary Waithira saying her constituency is the hardest hit in the county.
The MP said school children often abuse bhang during breaks and lunch time, associating the move with increased cases of defilement and murder cases.
“In one village alone, we have two women with mental disorders who have been impregnated by drug abusers. Children are taking bhang while in school. We need a multi-sectoral approach to curb the menace,” the MP said.