Nominated Senator Paul Njoroge has been charged with causing disturbance after using his gun to scare off people who had gone to take over his petrol station.
Njoroge shot in the air on Tuesday to stop workers from closing down a Shell petrol station he operates on Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
Vivo Energy hired the workers to confiscate equipment after the Senator allegedly failed to follow some rules.
The Senator who represents the disabled spent the night at Naivasha police station, whose officers confiscated his licensed weapon.
A lawyer representing Vivo said at Naivasha law courts on Wednesday that the charge Njoroge faced was too lenient.
Lawyer Steven Luseno rejected the charge and questioned why a Senator caught on camera firing in the air was not charged with the misuse of a firearm.
The charge sheet stated that Njoroge created disturbance in a manner likely to breach peace by firing at workers using his Ceska pistol.
But Luseno said the charge was not reflective of the complaints by Njoroge’s clients who felt that their lives were in great danger.
In his application, the lawyer said the matter should be revisited and the file forwarded to DPP Keriako Tobiko for advice. He noted that a serious crime had been committed.
Luseno also said the case should be transferred from to Nairobi as his clients felt threatened. He further said the Senator should be barred from contacting the complainants.
“The charge sheet has not raised any issue about firearm misuse and the Senator has gone ahead to post a threatening statement on his Facebook account,” he said.
But defence lawyer Francis Mburu asked the court to dismiss the application noting that the Senator was disarmed and the gun place in police custody.
Mburu further noted that the complainants had not reported any threats to police and said there wasn’t sufficient evidence to warrant the transfer of the case.
“The Senator does not represent Nakuru county as alleged, but the disabled nationally, and the charge sheet can be amended as the case proceeds,” he argued.
On his part, the state counsel Sebastian Mutinda accused the complainant’s lawyer of fishing and seeking unnecessary delays.
Mburu also said it was not up to the complainant to direct the DPP on what charges to prefer and added that investigations had been carried out professionally.
“As the case goes on, the new charges can be preferred against the accused if there new evidence is adduced and there is no need to stop the hearing of the case,” he said.
Zainabu Abdul, Deputy Registrar of the High Court, will make her ruling in the afternoon.