Jailed Westgate terrorist in court for fighting with cellmate
A terror convict, who is serving a 33-year jail term for aiding the Westgate terror attack in 2013, was on Thursday charged at the Makadara Law Courts with an affray at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
Affray is the offence of taking part in an unlawful fight in a public place and Mohamed Ahmed was charged with the offence after allegedly fighting with a cellmate Abdirahaman Abdi.
The two were separately charged with committing the offence on February 1, 2023 within the highly guarded prison. Mr Abdi pleaded guilty to the charge before Senior Principal Magistrate Mary Njagi, but Mr Ahmed denied committing the offence.
Ahmed was additionally charged with refusing to permit his fingerprints to be taken contrary to section 55 (5) as read with section 29 of the National Police Service Act of 2011. The NPS Act requires fingerprints of all criminal suspects be taken for profiling and criminal records.
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Mr Ahmed is accused of having declined to have his fingerprints taken by police constable Wycliffe Ondira of Kahawa West Police Station in Kasarani, Nairobi.
The two inmates are reported to have had an argument in the presence of prison officers who could not comprehend the cause of their argument because they were speaking in Somali.
The argument degenerated into a fight before prison officers intervened and escorted both inmates to Kamiti Prisons Hospital. After they were treated and discharged from hospital, they were taken to Kahawa West Police Station.
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Investigations by the police established that the dispute between the two had existed for several days after Mr Ahmed and other inmates accused Mr Abdi of not being a committed Muslim and demanded that the latter should be accompanying them to prayers.
The case will be mentioned on February 6, 2023 where the prosecution will avail its case against Mr Abdi before he is sentenced. Hearing of Mr Ahmed’s case will start on May 16, 2023. They will both remain in custody.
Mr Ahmed is serving two jail terms handed by former Milimani Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi after he was convicted for assisting Al-Shabab extremists, who masterminded the four-day siege on the mall in Nairobi’s Westlands area where at least 67 people were killed.
Mr Andayi sentenced him to 18 years for conspiracy to carry out a terror attack and an additional 15 years jail term for possession of materials promoting terrorism. The sentences are running concurrently.
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