By Nancy Gitonga and Sheila Mutua,
Two Marsabit County employees and two Ethiopians were on Tuesday arraigned in Nairobi and charged with being in possession of a firearm and 10 rounds of ammunition without a license.
The county government driver and mechanic were arrested on January 6, by the Border Patrol Unit at Elle Bor area in Turbi, Marsabit County.
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On Tuesday, the prosecutor charged the suspects with two counts of being in possession of an AK-47, 10 bullets, and being in the country illegally.
The four suspects who were arraigned in Nairobi on Tuesday, February 16, are Galma Iara, Musa Dalacha, Mohammed Galmagar, and Ibrahim Abduba Galma.
The two Ethiopians pleaded guilty for being in Kenya illegally but denied the other charges.
According to the court documents, the county employees told the investigating officer that they were stopped by the two Ethiopians while heading to work and offered them a lift out of fear.
The Marsabit County employees told the Nairobi court that they feared they would be shot dead because they were stopped at gunpoint by the Ethiopians.
The previous day, the two Kenyans, alleged that a Boran pastoralist was shot by suspected Ethiopians hence they had a good cause to allow the foreigners board the government vehicle.
Nairobi Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku directed the hearing of the bail application to be heard in a different court later on Tuesday, February 16.
Background
The arrest of the four suspects led to the manhunt for a Mandera MCA who police alleged was linked to arms dealing suspected to have been used to fuel inter-ethnic clashes in the Turbi and Sololo areas.
The MCA later surrendered to authorities this month and was transferred to Nairobi for interrogation by the Anti-Terror Police Unit.
