Cousins jailed for 30 years for the killing of 11 GSU officers

On October 12, 2019, 11 General Service Unit (GSU) officers were on patrol along the Kenya-Somalia border, but never returned.

On reaching Abdisugow, their vehicle, a Toyota Land Cruiser, was blown up and sprayed with bullets.

Among those who perished were Kennedy Murimi, a GSU commander and the driver, Dickson Nderitu, whose relatives testified in court.

At the centre of the attack was said to be Abdullahi Banati, a wanted terror suspect on whom the US has offered $10 million (Sh1.3 billion) as a reward for any links that would have him nabbed.

According to the US, he was responsible for the attack on the Manda Bay Airfield facility four months later, on January 2, 2020.

Back to the GSU attack: Two cousins, Farah Ahmed Sambul alias Faragon and Minaj Hassan Khalig—also known as Daar—were arrested on October 23, 2019, at Harhar.

Ahmed, the court heard, had two AK-47 rifles, a Tokarev pistol with eight rounds of ammunition and five magazines, and 117 AK-47 rounds of ammunition and seven magazines.

Hassan, on the other hand, had with him one AK-47 rifle, a magazine and one round of ammunition.

Ahmed and Hassan ended up in the dock, accused of committing a terrorist act and membership in a terrorist group.

The prosecution argued that they detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and thereafter opened fire on a GSU Land Cruiser vehicle (Reg. No. GKB 277U).

 They denied the charges.

During the trial, the prosecution called 10 witnesses. The first witness was Chief Inspector Tanui Bacho.  The officer told the court that he was formerly attached as an Officer Commanding Station (OCS), Dadaab Police.

He narrated that after the attack, he led a patrol at Harhar, where the two suspects were found sleeping in a thicket.

  Corporal Mohamed Omar Ali was the second witness. He told the court that he was alerted about a GSU vehicle that had been blown up.

The witness said he helped in collecting the bodies of the officers and their guns. He said Abdisugow is approximately 20 to 30 kilometres from Harhar.

 Lucas Njogu, the father of Murimi, said that he was informed that his son had died in a bomb blast. Ann Nyawira, another witness, told the court that she was also informed that the driver of the vehicle, Nderitu, had also perished.

 Alex Chirchir, a ballistics expert, pieced together the evidence that linked Ahmed and Hassan to the heinous crime.

The Senior Superintendent of Police told the court that the AK-47 fired two bullets that Ahmed was nabbed with. The court heard that it had some Russian markings.

He, however, stated that the pistol had no links to the recovered cartridges. He asserted that the weapons had a direct link to the cartridges collected at the crime scene.

Corporal Michael Onyango told the court that he visited the scene with officers from the anti-terror police unit. He narrated that Nderitu had gunshot wounds on his head while the GSU commander had his eyes gouged.

He further stated that Ahmed and Hassan were arrested and identified.

The star witness in the case was an ATPU investigating officer, Shadrack Kimeli. He said that the two were nabbed during a patrol near Liboi and had the deadly weapons with them.

The two cousins separately testified in opposition to he case. Ahmed claimed that he was a pastor and denied being a member of a terrorist group or having weapons.

On his end, Hassan told the court that related to Ahmed. He, too, distanced himself from the attack and the weapons.

They claimed that their arrest was a result of a family land dispute involving  Ahmed’s sister (Rahma Ahmed) and her husband (a Somali police officer). They alleged that the firearms were planted and that the entire case was fabricated.

However, Principal Magistrate Jackson Owange said that forensics put them at the crime scene. According to him, they could not explain how the weapons they found were the same ones used in the attack.

“ A forensic match between cartridges from the crime scene and the rifles found on the accused establishes a direct evidentiary link. In this case, the forensic link between the crime scene cartridges and the rifles found with the accused excludes reasonable hypotheses of innocence. The attack scene was approximately 15km from where the accused were arrested (Harhar), and they were found with the same weapons used in the attack,” said Owange.

He observed that by the time they were arrested, they were carrying a black flag that had symbols associated with the Al-Shabaab.

The magistrate was of the view that there was no evidence to suggest a land dispute involving Rahma. He said that the State’s argument that they were involved in terrorism, had weapons, and terrorist paraphernalia could not be impeached.

He sentenced them to 30 years for 11 counts and a further 10 years for the 12th count. However, he directed that they should serve them concurrently.

Owange said that the attack had been calculated to cause a mass loss of security officers.

“Having considered the statutory framework, the principle of proportionality, the Supreme Court's guidance on life sentences, the nature of the conviction, and the mitigating circumstances advanced, the Court is persuaded that a custodial term of thirty (30) years' imprisonment in counts I-X1 and ten (10) years in count XII is just and appropriate,” he said.