An expected twist to the Dusit D2 terror attack investigation has seen Sakina Mariam Abdalla, the mother of the mastermind of Dusit terror attack Ali Salim Gichunge, charged with failure to disclose to police the whereabouts of 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.”
She denied the charges before chief magistrate Francis Andayi. Sakina also sought to know why her ex-husband is not also being charged.
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 offences 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.
he court was told that the information she had would have been used to prevent the commission of a terrorist act.
The prosecution has opposed to her release on bail and bond terms and asked the court for time to put in an affidavit opposing the same
The prosecution application opposing her release was to be heard later on Friday.
The state is seeking additional time to conclude investigations against Mandera based Imam Mukhtar Ali said to have been recruiting and radicalising young men.
State counsel Eddie Kaddebbe said no charges will be pressed against three other suspects Mohammed Abdile, Aden Mohammed and Ibrahim Bayow.
An Ethiopian national arrested alongside Mukhtar was charged with being unlawfully present in Kenya which he denied.
Andayi released him on a cash bail of Sh 200, 000.