A 35-year-old man was on Wednesday arraigned in a court in Kibera, Nairobi, for extorting a sum of Sh240,000,000 from Kakamega Governor Fernandes Odinga Barasa.
William Simiyu Matere alias Elijah, an alleged witch doctor, appeared before Kibera Senior Principal Magistrate Ann Mwangi where he was charged with two counts of demanding property with menace and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The prosecution alleged that on diverse dates between December, 2023 and 18th day of March, 2024 at an unknown place within the Republic of Kenya, jointly with others not before court, with menaces demanded a total sum of Sh240,000,000 from Fernandez Odinga Barasa.
The other count states that on the same date he jointly with others not before court conspired together to commit a felony namely demanding property with menaces and extorted from Barasa over Sh240 million.
Word has it that William allegedly demanded the money from the Governor while threatening to leak his nude photos and videos captured while he was allegedly seeking his services in order to win the 2022 election.
The suspect denied the charges and was freed on a bond of Sh2 million with a surety of the same amount.
The prosecution intends to call four witnesses.The matter will be mentioned on March 27, 2024 for further directions.
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