Dusit Attack Mastermind’s Mother Charged for withholding crucial intel

Sakina Mariam Abdalla—the mother of Dusit terror attack’s mastermind Ali Salim Gichunge—was charged Friday with failing to disclose information about her son. Charges read out to her indicated that “on diverse dates between 2015 and 2019 at Kula Mawe in Isiolo County she declined to disclose information pertaining the whereabouts of her son.”

The prosecution told court that “knowledge or information could have prevented the terror attack which left 21 people dead.” She was arraigned before Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi, with the Anti Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) opposing her release on bail, on grounds that she is likely to interfere with witnesses and the ongoing investigations in Kenya and Somalia.

An ATPU officer Monica Githaiga has filed an affidavit in court, stating that Mariam’s claim that she reported her son’s disappearance at Isiolo Police Station in 2014 was not true. She is the second person to be charged over offenses related to the terror attack after a bank manager from Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) faced charges this week for failing to report large transactions believed to have financed the attack.