Court orders MP Kaguchia's release on Ksh.100K cash bail amid hate speech probe

In orders issued at the Kiambu High Court on Monday, Lady Justice Njoki Mwangi directed that the legislator be released forthwith upon depositing the cash bail after certifying his application urgent and granting interim relief pending the hearing of the case.

The judge, who heard the matter for directions on a notice of motion filed under a certificate of urgency, directed Kaguchia to effect service of the application on the respondents, who include the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The respondents were given 14 days to file and serve their responses, and the MP a further 14 days to file a supplementary affidavit if necessary.

The court set the substantive application down for a virtual hearing on September 16, 2026.

Kaguchia was arrested by DCI officers on Monday morning after spending the night at the Royal Media Services offices, where he had taken refuge from Sunday evening. He said a contingent of police had surrounded the studios and erected roadblocks in what he described as an attempt to intimidate him.

Speaking to Citizen TV before his arrest, the MP said he was being probed over remarks he made at a political rally in Kieni, Nyeri County, on Saturday, which he said had been twisted to fit a particular narrative.

He accused government digital strategist Dennis Itumbi and other Mt Kenya legislators of amplifying the claims against him.

Kaguchia said he had not received any summons, only social media posts, and that he had no objection to presenting himself before the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, under whose mandate he said the matter fell.

At the rally, the MP is reported to have warned Mt Kenya residents of consequences should they vote for President William Ruto in the 2027 General Election, saying in his Kikuyu dialect that those who backed the President would be tracked to their homes. It is those remarks that authorities are investigating.

Regional DCI commander Daniel Kandie was among the officers who effected the arrest.

The legislator was initially said to be headed to the regional DCI offices at Milimani, but was later transferred to the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road.