The legal drama involving the Akasha brothers is intensifying as the US is planning to make formal extradition requests. The case involves the brothers and prominent Kenyans who are now wanted by the FBI for narcotics trafficking.
The Kenyan suspects now fear that the government may cooperate with US authorities to cut short the protracted legal process that ordinarily could see the extradition take years in the corridors of justice. The cooperation is to have authorities arrest the suspects, bundle them into a plane and send them out of the country to face justice in the United States.
The Akasha brothers, Baktash Akasha, 41, and his brother Ibrahim Akasha, 29 recently revealed a list of prominent Kenyans who were involved in drug trafficking. The list of shame including a sitting MP, a former governor, current and former top police bosses and influential businessmen.
Also on the list is a Cabinet secretary, two judges and a Chief Administrative Secretary all of whom are being sought by the US over links to the notorious Akasha drugs family.
Most of the suspects are said to be accomplices in the narcotics underworld while others, especially the judges and top police officers, pocketed hefty bribes to aid to protect the drugs business and obstruct justice.
However, lawyers now say that extradition must officially be sanctioned by the High Court and anything less would amount to a travesty of justice.
“For another country to come and intrude on the sovereignty of another state without that state having its processes followed would be a violation of rights of the suspect,” Senior Counsel Tom Ojienda explained.
On October 26, the Akashas spilled the beans, implicating the top figures while pleading guilty to seven criminal charges. The charges include distribution of heroin and methamphetamine and conspiracy to import the drugs into the United States.
Do you think the Akasha brothers and the prominent leaders should be charged outside the country?