The Mombasa High Court granted the Akasha brothers and two foreigners Sh30 million bond each on Monday.
Baktash Akasha, Ibrahim Akasha, Indian national Vijay Goswami and Pakistani Hussein Shabakash face extradition to the US over trafficking of high-grade cocaine.
“Considering the circumstances containing the extradition proceedings, I find that a Sh5 million bond is not strict enough to stop them from absconding. I therefore warrant strict bond terms of Sh30 million each with two similar sureties,” Judge Martin Muya said in his ruling.
Chief Magistrate Maxwell Gicheru had released the four on Sh5 million bond each on December 1.
The ruling was later cancelled after Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko obtained stay orders.
Judge Muya directed the Akashas and their co-accused to report to the investigating officer for three days every week.
He further ordered them to surrender their passports as ordered by the Mombasa chief magistrate’s court.
Assistant DPP Alexander Muteti had asked the court to deny the four bond, citing the extradition proceedings they face.
Muteti added that granting them bond would be wrong since their renewed application had been denied.
An application filed before Justice Maureen Odero further said that the “fugitives are a flight risk and can abscond if released on bond”.
The Akashas’ lawyers, led by Cliff Ombeta, submitted that the appeal filed by the DPP was a clear move to frustrate Gicheru’s release order.
“The appeal is intended to deprive the fugitives their basic and fundamental rights to bail as enshrined in article 49 of the Constitution,” said Ombeta.
