Mandera chief arrested over illegal processing of Kenyan IDs
The arrested chief is accused of helping two terror suspects, Issack Mohamed Abdi and Noor Yakub Ali, acquire Kenyan ID cards.
Police in Mandera County have arrested a local chief over links to illegal processing of Kenyan identity cards for two Somali terror suspects.
Mr Yussuf Maalim Issak, the Bula Power assistant chief, was arrested today (Thursday February 20).
Mr Issak is under investigation for allegedly helping two Somali nationals, Isack Mohamed Abdi and Noor Yakub Ali, acquire Kenyan ID cards.
“We arrested him but released him on free bond as we carry on with investigations,” said Mr Pius Gitari, the Mandera County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO).
The suspected terrorists are accused of plotting to abduct Chinese nationals working in the region.
The administrator is suspected of facilitating the procurement of an acknowledgment of registration slip, or ID waiting card, for the terror suspects who were arrested while planning the abduction of a team of foreigners constructing a sewer line in Mandera Town.
'His word is final'
According to Mr Gitari, the chief was nabbed because his word is usually final when it comes to vetting of ID card applicants before the security committee.
Before President William Ruto announced scrapping of the vetting process for ID applicants in border counties, a vetting committee existed. It comprised the Assistant County Commissioner, a member of the intelligence service, a representative of the National Registration Bureau (NRB), a chief and their assistant, and clan elders.
“What a chief or assistant chief approves as the right candidate is always cleared by the committee. We arrested this assistant chief because he was the one who approved the vetting of these two terror suspects,” Mr Gitari said.
Mr Mohamed, one of the suspects, is said to have crossed into Mandera from Somalia and managed to apply for an ID.
“He was issued a waiting card last year, and it was this assistant chief who presented him to the vetting committee,” Mr Gitari said.
In their plan to abduct Chinese nationals working on the Mandera Sewerage Project, the suspect, is said to have paid a local about Sh100,000 to facilitate their abduction.
Together, the two suspects planned to spend another Sh300,000 to transport the foreigners to El-Ade in Somalia.
The Mandera Law Court allowed the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) to hold the two suspects for fourteen days starting Wednesday.