Ex-Olympian Bilali, coach Otiti freed over alleged plot to storm State House
Robert Otiti (left) and Suleiman Bilali at the Milimani Law Courts on June 26, 2025.
What you need to know:
- Police had been investigating the pair for alleged cybercrime and computer misuse offences.
- Magistrate Dolphina Alego dismissed the prosecution’s request to detain the two for 10 more days.
Olympian Suleiman Wanjau Bilali and football coach Robert Otiti have been released unconditionally after being accused of mobilising the public to march to State House to oust President William Ruto during the June 25, 2025 protests.
The two were discharged without any charges being preferred against them after police failed to find evidence linking them to the viral social media posts at the center of the investigation.
“This court finds that police have nothing to charge them with. This court discharges them,” Milimani Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Dolphina Alego said on Thursday.
She also ordered the refund of the Sh20,000 cash bail each had deposited in court.
Police had been investigating the pair for alleged cybercrime and computer misuse offences.
They had been arraigned on June 26, 2025 over allegations they posted information on X (formerly Twitter), calling on Kenyans to invade State House on June 25, 2025, to force President Ruto out of office.
That protest date had been chosen to commemorate the killing of more than 60 people during the June 25, 2024 Gen Z demonstrations.
Mr Bilali and Mr Otiti were reported to have reposted a timetable and messages allegedly originating from IT expert and blogger Ndiang’ui Kinyagia.
Mr Kinyagia were missing but resurfaced in court last week after Justice Chacha Mwita ordered the DCI to produce him dead or alive. DCI Director Mohamed Amin had been summoned to appear in court over Mr Kinyagia's disappearance.
Justice Mwita was told by lawyers Kibe Mungai, Abner Mango, John Maina and Willis Otieno that Mr Bilali and Mr Otiti had been detained simply for reposting content from Kinyagia’s platform.
Earlier, Ms Alego had dismissed the prosecution’s request to detain the two for 10 more days on the grounds that the application had not met the legal threshold. She agreed with the defense lawyers' argument that individual rights are inherent and enshrined in the Constitution.
Defense lawyers Mango, Maina, Otieno and Embakasi East MP Babu Owino argued that public trust in the police has eroded, especially following the murder of teacher-cum-blogger Albert Ojwang inside Central Police Station cells on the night of June 7–8, 2025.
“We are aware that lawlessness is anarchy to any democracy. This court takes judicial notice of the developments around Mr Ojwang and the country’s current situation,” Ms Alego said.
She described Mr Bilali and Mr Otiti’s case as a classic example of the tension between public interest litigation and the right to liberty, good governance and the rule of law.
Overruling the prosecution, she granted the two bond of Sh50,000 with one surety each, or an alternative cash bail of Sh20,000. Mr Bilali and Otiti walked out of court free men.