Kitutu Chache South MP Anthony Kibagendi has denied assaulting a man and smashing an iPhone 15 Pro Max during a heated alteration at a Java House, dismissing the charges as a state-sponsored script to silence a rising political star.

The drama unfolded at the Narok Law Courts, where the legislator stood in the dock accused of causing "actual bodily harm" to Astarico Omariba Moriasi. The charge sheet reads like a catalogue of rage: a smashed iPhone valued at KSh 230,000, broken crockery worth KSh 20,000, and a physical beatdown in the polite environs of a coffee shop.

The "Politics" Defense

Represented by Senator Okong’o Omogeni, Kibagendi played the classic Kenyan politician's card: victimhood. "This arrest is politically motivated," Omogeni told the court, framing the brawl not as a loss of temper, but as persecution. Former Woman Rep Janet Ongera backed him, calling Kibagendi a "promising young leader" being suppressed by the system.

• The Cost of Anger: The MP was released on a KSh 200,000 bond.
• The optics: For a leader who champions youth empowerment, facing charges for a coffee shop fistfight is a PR disaster, regardless of the "political" spin.

As the case moves to a mention on February 2, the court of public opinion is already in session. Is this a government crackdown on dissent, or simply a case of a mheshimiwa behaving badly? In Kenya, the line is often blurred.