Three terror convicts who escaped from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 2021 have been handed additional 15-year prison sentences by a Nairobi court.
Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage, sitting at the Kahawa Law Courts, sentenced Musharaf Abdala, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo to serve the additional terms after completing their existing sentences. The court, however, directed that Abdala’s 15-year sentence should run from the date he was acquitted by the High Court in an earlier case.
The three were convicted of committing a terrorist act contrary to Section 4(1) of the Prevention of Terrorism Act after the prosecution proved that they escaped from lawful custody at Kamiti Prison between the night of November 14 and the morning of November 15, 2021.
The prosecution argued that their escape was carried out in circumstances that posed a threat to national security.
In handing down the sentences, Magistrate Kiage found that the three had acted with a common intention to evade arrest, noting that they remained together throughout their journey after breaking out of the prison. The court heard that the convicts travelled from Kamiti to Kitui using motorcycles and public service vehicles before continuing to Endao. They later abandoned conventional means of transport and walked through informal routes in an effort to avoid detection.
The court noted that the decision by the three to remain together was significant.
“If their only intention was to flee and evade re-capture, it would have made more sense to split up and go in different directions. This would have reduced their chances of detection,” the court ruled.
The prosecution told the court that the three did not have identification documents, forcing them to rely on less conspicuous routes as they attempted to stay ahead of security officers.
Odhiambo was serving a 15-year sentence when he escaped from Kamiti. His earlier conviction in Mandera arose from offences linked to travelling to a terrorist-designated country, failing to report his departure and leaving Kenya through a non-designated border crossing. His new 15-year sentence will begin after he completes the sentence he was already serving.
Abikar, meanwhile, was serving a cumulative 41-year prison term following his conviction at the Milimani Law Courts over his involvement in the 2015 Garissa University attack, in which 148 people were killed. The court ordered that he serve the additional 15 years after completing the 41-year sentence.
Abdala had previously received a 22-year prison sentence but was later acquitted by the High Court on appeal. Magistrate Kiage ordered that his additional 15-year term run from the date of that acquittal.
