Somali national found guilty of radicalising youths, facilitating their joining Al-Shabaab

A magistrate’s court has found a Somali national, Abdikarim Hassanow Hassan, alias Ali, guilty of being a member of Al-Shabaab and radicalising youths in Kehancha, Migori, after which he would finance and facilitate them to join the terror group.

Kahawa law Court magistrate Boaz Ombewa said the prosecution led by Kennedy Amwayi had proved that Ali not only deceived a teenage boy into believing that the attacks by the terror group in Somalia were Jihad, but he also trained him to be one of them, then paid for his transport and provided him with links to enable him to cross to the Horn of Africa.

“From the totality of the evidence, the Court is satisfied that prosecution witness 1 did not embark on his journey towards Somalia by accident or mere youthful curiosity. The evidence demonstrates planning, preparation, ideological exposure, logistical guidance, and financial facilitation,” said the Magistrate, adding, “The drawn routes on the atlas, the precise instructions on where to go and whom to wait for, the adoption of a new religious identity, and the promises of reward collectively point to the existence of a broader design.”

The background of how he ended up at the Kahawa Law Court involves a 17-year-old boy whom he allegedly met in Kehancha, who taught him to pray in Islam, and then supplied him with fare to travel to Somalia to ‘train how to use a gun’ in an alleged attempt to avenge the teen’s dead father.

The boy, codenamed MMC, was the star witness in the case.

He testified that on August 26 last year, he went to Kehancha town to buy a mobile phone when he met Ali, who allegedly informed him that his roots are in Somalia.

 MMC further narrated that Ali also told him that he had settled in Kehancha following a harsh life back home due to war and lack of customers.

He also allegedly mentioned that it was easy to travel to Somalia and urged him to convert to Islam.

The teenager explained that his motivation to travel to Somalia was to receive gun training so he could seek revenge for his father’s death. He mentioned that Ali invited him to a specific location to learn about Islam, and there he was shown how to clean himself and pray.

Ali gave MMC the name Farhan, an Arabic name meaning blessed, delightful, and hopeful.

Farhan said he again met Ali on January 15, 2021, at Mali Complex, which is also located at Kehancha.

This time, he said, his teacher told him that those who profess Islamic faith would go to heaven when they die and not live life as a bird.

 The court heard that Ali asked the teen to find money as fare from Kehancha to Nairobi,  with a promise that he would get him money to cover the remaining journey from Kenya’s capital to the Horn of Africa.

“I used Sh1200 initially meant for his scouting camp at Taranganya to prepare for the journey. He informed Ali that I was ready and had the money. Ali then advised me to avoid eating anything, warning that it might cause me to forget the instructions given,” testified Farhan.

The teen started his journey to Somalia on March 10, 2024. He said that Ali provided him with three oranges and a lemon, stating that they were the only food he was allowed to eat.

He then gave the teen a sketch map outlining the journey from Kehancha to Nairobi, then head to Mombasa, Lamu Forest, and then cross to Somalia.

The alternative route, the court heard, was Nairobi to Garissa, through Wajir, then Somalia.

Farhan said Ali used an atlas to show the routes by joining dots.

The boy further said he sneaked out of school at around 4 pm, went to Ali’s shop, took some Sh5000 cash from him, and headed his way to Nairobi. He narrated that the journey from Kehancha started at 6 pm using the Nyamira Express bus, and he arrived in Nairobi at 4 am the following day.

Farhan then took a tuk-tuk to Garissa buses and boarded Alma Air. His fare to Garissa was Sh1500.

 He said he alighted at Madogo as instructed by Ali, who had told him that someone would help him cross over to Garissa. True to Ali’s word, he said, a Somali man referred to him as ‘kajunior’, approached him, and escorted him. He was then transferred to a Probox that was heading to Dadaab and which had four elderly men.

He said that they were dropped at Dagahali, after which another vehicle, a Toyota Alto, ferried them to Dadaab.

Farhan told the court that the instructions were that he was to wait near a tree at the main stage in Dadaab, where someone would pick him up for Somalia.

He narrated that he stayed at the place between 9 pm and 10 pm when locals raised an alarm after suspecting him. The area chief took him to a police station as he had no number or the name of the person he was waiting for.

Farhan led the police to Ali.

Back home, Farhan’s family was desperately searching for him. His uncle, codenamed TMW, testified that on March 9, 2024, he asked for Sh950 for a scout event. He said that four days later, a police officer named Maina called him and informed him that his nephew had been arrested while waiting to cross into Somalia.

He testified that the teen. Revealed that he had been persuaded to join Al-Shabaab and had intended to cross over to Somalia.

Police Constable David Kinuthia was the last witness in the case. He told the court that he found Farhan, who was stranded at Dadaab.

The officer said that the teen spilt beans that Ali had allegedly introduced him to jihadist ideologies, trained him on survival skills, and facilitated his travel.

 The officer said that Farhan had with him an atlas, a mobile phone, and a school identification card.