MP accused of misusing gun to know his fate

An MP faces arrest if the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko confirms charges that police have preferred against him.

Police want Mr Simba Arati, the MP for Dagoretti North, charged following a confrontation between him and the director of Summer Mount Holdings Ashok Rupshi Shah.

The businessman reported to police that the politician had threatened him with a gun over a disputed piece of land, prompting an investigation after which detectives recommended criminal charges.

Dagoretti Police Station head of investigations Joseph Ondoro confirmed to the Sunday Nation that Mr Arati’s file was forwarded to the DPP but declined to divulge the nature of the charges. The fate of the suspect now lies with the DPP.

However, he confirmed that his officers at Muthangari Police Station had investigated malicious damage to property and misuse of a firearm.

“The incident we investigated occurred at a property owned by the businessman. We established that it’s not the first time there had been a conflict between the complainant and the MP. Our officers also established that a gate at the property was destroyed,” said Mr Ondoro.

At the same time, the businessman wrote to National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi complaining about the MP. Mr Shah claimed that Mr Arati threatened to shoot him in a heated quarrel over a seven-acre piece of land in Lavington, Nairobi.

In the letter, Mr Shah said disciplinary action should be taken against the MP for misusing power and damaging the reputation of Parliament.

Mr Shah, who claims ownership of the land, said the MP stormed the property on May 11 accompanied by a group of youths and his bodyguards who brought down the gate, claiming that the land belongs to the public.

“In addition to the malicious damage, he threatened me as his bodyguard pulled out a gun to further scare me while his goons hurled racial insults at me. In defence, I also pulled out my gun to make it known that I was armed,” Mr Shah said in the letter. The businessman now wants the Speaker to take action against the legislator.  

“I am now drawing your attention to the dishonourable conduct of the member who has promised to use influence and immense powers both in the House and the Senate to disenfranchise me of my property, claiming that it is public land. He is misusing his power and showing his muscles to private property owners,” the letter reads.

The letter was also sent to the Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo.

In a statement recorded at the Muthangari Police Station on May 12, Mr Shah claimed that Mr Arati threatened to mobilise his constituents to bring down the wall surrounding the property on which he has planned to put up apartments. The controversy surrounding the land’s ownership has blocked a real estate project valued at over Sh1 billion.

“I told him not to threaten me because I was on my land. I also informed him that I was also armed with a pistol; he told me that he had the capacity to bring down the wall,” the statement reads.