Comedian Eric Omondi, 16 co-accused released on Sh10,000 cash bail each

A court has charged the self-proclaimed king of African comedy, Eric Omondi and 16 others with taking part in an unlawful assembly outside the Parliament Buildings.

Omondi and his group of protesters appeared at the Milimani Law Courts on Wednesday before Chief Justice Lucas Onyina where he denied the charge and asked to be released on cash bail or personal bonds.

City lawyer Danstan Omari who represented the accused argued they were only content creators who wanted to take the government to task over the rising cost of living in the country.

Omari noted Omondi and his team represented millions of Kenyans, especially those that are on the verge of hunger and referred to them as national heroes for championing the rights of other Kenyans.

"All these persons are international content creators. They went to Parliament to agitate for measures that will deal with the current high cost of living in the country. I urge the court to take the judicial notice that six million Kenyans are on the verge of hunger as per the government report," Omari said.

"The young men represented 55 million Kenyans [in telling] Parliament to tame the high cost of living. The State has criminalised these national heroes fighting for the whole country. The people cannot afford food on their tables."

The court released Omondi and the 16 other accused persons on a Sh10,000 cash bail each or Sh20,000 bond.

Omondi led a group of activists in staging peaceful protests outside the Parliament Buildings on Tuesday.

The comedian Omondi and the youth picketed outside the Parliament Buildings, seeking an audience with the Speaker of the National Assembly, Moses Wetangula, to address the current high cost of living.

Police arrested Omondi as he attempted to storm the Parliament premises once it became clear the speaker was not coming out to address them.

The case will be mentioned on March 6, 2023, for a pretrial conference.