Assistant chief arrested in Mandera for facilitating IDs for terror suspects

Anti-terrorism officers in Mandera have arrested Yussuf Maalim Issak, the assistant chief of Bula Power sub-location, for allegedly facilitating the illegal processing of Kenyan identification documents for two suspected terrorists, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on X.

 "Anti-terrorism detectives drawn from the Mandera detachment have arrested Yussuf Maalim Issak, the assistant chief of Bula Power sub-location in Mandera Township, in connection with his involvement in an attempted and illegal processing of Kenyan IDs in favour of two foreign nationals cum terror suspects, namely Isack Mohammed Abdi and Noor Yakub Ali," said the DCI.

 "The suspect aided in obtaining an acknowledgement of registration slip, commonly referred to as an ID waiting card, for the two terror suspects who were arrested while planning the abduction of foreign nationals engaged in the construction of a sewer line in Mandera town," added the agency.

 Issak is accused of helping Abdi and Ali obtain registration slips for national IDs. The two were arrested while allegedly planning to abduct foreign workers constructing a sewer line in Mandera town.

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 "The assistant chief has been processed, with detectives and other security agencies working tirelessly to ensure that the residents of Mandera and all working within the town and its environs remain safe and secure as they undertake their day-to-day activities," the DCI said.

 Security agencies said the arrest is part of ongoing efforts to safeguard residents and workers in the region. Authorities are investigating the extent of Issak’s involvement in the scheme.

 The arrest comes weeks after President William Ruto, during a tour of northern Kenya, announced an end to extensive vetting in ID issuance. He said the process had discriminated against communities in the region and pledged equal access to documentation for all Kenyans.

 “I want to assure the people that the discrimination witnessed in the region for the last 60 years will come to an end,” said Ruto in Mandera. “When a child from Mandera, Wajir, or Garissa applies for an ID and is asked so many questions, this must stop forthwith.”

Ruto also promised to oversee the immediate removal of the vetting process and ensure that all Kenyans receive identification documents without bias.

 “All Kenyans are equal as the constitution provides, no Kenyan is bigger than the other,” he said.

 The president further announced that a passport office in the region, which had been closed, would reopen to ensure equal access to government services. “We will open the passport office because it amounts to discrimination,” he noted.