Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa was on Thursday evening arrested over suspicion of being part of an extortion racket targeting Kakamega Governor Fernandez Barasa.
Echesa has been locked up at the Muthaiga police station after being picked up from his house on Thursday afternoon and is set to be charged on Tuesday.
According to his lawyer Danstan Omari, Echesa was being detained over claims of extortion and stage managed abduction.
“We have been allowed to see him. We understand they are investigating claims of extortion and abduction which we don’t know more about,” he said.
Echesa was on Thursday at about 4 pm picked from the cells and taken to Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Kiambu Road for grilling as Omari followed him there.
Police said he has been evading their dragnet in efforts to grill him for possible prosecution.
This came a week after a man police said was Echesa’s handler was Wednesday March 20 charged in a Kibera Court for extorting over Sh240 million from Barasa.
William Simiyu Matere alias Elijah appeared before Kibera Senior Prinicipal Magistrate Ann Mwangi where he was charged with two counts of demanding property with menace and conspiracy to commit a felony.
According to the prosecution, it is alleged that on diverse dates between December, 2023 and 18th day of March, 2024 at unknown place within the Republic of Kenya, jointly with others not before court, with menaces demanded a total sum of Sh240 million from Fernandez Odinga Barasa.
