Al-Shabaab militants during a training in Somalia.
A 17-year-old boy who wanted to avenge the killing of his father was allegedly radicalised and recruited by a businessman in Migori County who then facilitated his attempted journey to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab, a court has heard.
The teenager came within hours of crossing into Somalia before his journey was thwarted after he was left waiting for a contact who was supposed to collect him in Dadaab, Garissa County.
According to evidence presented before the Kahawa Law Courts, the teenager recognised in court PW1 first met businessman Abdikarim Hassanow Hassan alias Ali, in Kehancha in March 2024 while looking for a mobile phone.
The court heard that Ali sold the teenager a phone for Sh3,000 and the two subsequently became acquainted.
Prosecution evidence showed that the boy had been seeking revenge after his father was killed near their home in 2021. His uncle told detectives that no one had been arrested over the killing despite the family reporting the matter to police.
According to the court, Ali exploited the teenager’s desire for revenge and introduced him to Islam before changing his name.
The court heard that Ali taught PW1 how to pray and observe Islamic practices before allegedly telling him that he could travel to Somalia, receive firearms training, make money and join Al-Shabaab for two years before being released.
The court heard that Ali subsequently began planning the teenager’s journey to Somalia.
He allegedly instructed the minor to raise bus fare from Kehancha to Nairobi, promising to meet the cost of his onward journey.
When PW1 obtained Sh1,200 for the trip to Nairobi, Ali allegedly instructed him not to eat during the journey except for oranges and lemons that he provided.
He also allegedly used an Atlas map to show the teenager the route he was supposed to follow.
According to the prosecution evidence, the teenager was told that once he reached Liboi in Garissa County, someone would collect him and take him into Somalia.
On March 9, 2024, the court heard he reportedly arrived at Nyamira Express bus offices in Kehancha where Ali allegedly gave him Sh5,000 before he left for Nairobi.
He travelled to Nairobi and on March 11, boarded an Alama Air bus to Garissa.
Following Ali’s instructions, PW1 alighted at Madogo about four kilometres from Garissa town where a man approached him and called him “Kajunior”, the name Ali had allegedly given him.
The man reportedly directed him to a matatu heading to Dadaab.
He was later instructed to alight at Dagahaley and find another vehicle to Dadaab. He paid Sh150 for the journey.
When he arrived in Dadaab at about 9pm, the teenager allegedly waited under a tree at the main bus stage for another man who was supposed to take him into Somalia.
But after about an hour, his presence attracted the attention of locals who alerted the area chief.
The teenager told the chief that he was waiting for someone to collect him but the explanation did not satisfy the administrator who took him to Dadaab Police Station.
It was there that police established that the teenager was allegedly on his way to Somalia to join Al-Shabaab.
The discovery also helped police trace the suspected recruiter.
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On April 11, 2024, anti-terrorism police officers from Dadaab travelled to Kehancha with the teenager and with the assistance of local crime-busters arrested Ali.
Ali denied knowing the young man and denied planning or facilitating his journey to Somalia.
In his judgment, Senior Principal Magistrate Boaz Ombewa found the teenager’s evidence credible and consistent.
The magistrate noted that PW1 remained firm during both examination-in-chief and cross-examination about his interactions with Ali.
“Subsequently the accused explained to him how he could get converted to Islam, taught him how to pray, how he could train with Al-Shabaab and the benefits he would get in the event he passed on. The accused explained to him the alternative routes he could follow to reach Somalia and gave him part of the money for transport,” the magistrate said.
The court also considered a complaint Ali made to police on March 27, 2024, several days after ‘Kajunior’s arrest in Dadaab.
According to the court, Ali exploited the teenager’s desire for revenge and introduced him to Islam.
The magistrate found that the timing of the complaint weakened Ali’s defence.
“It appears to me that he (Ali) was doing so after realising that the man was not picked up as planned. This was a defence mechanism just in the event the mission backfired,” Mr Ombewa said.
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The court also rejected Ali’s claim that his arrest was connected to differences with a person identified as Abdul.
“I do not find it logical that the said Abdul could have organized the travel of PW1 from Kehancha all the way to Dadaab just to frame the accused with whom he was in Migori,” the magistrate said.
“PW1 almost succeeded in travelling to Somalia were it not for the failure of another agent to pick him up in Dadaab,” he added.
Ali was charged under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012, with offences including membership of a terrorist group, organising a meeting in support of a terrorist group, radicalisation, recruitment of members of a terrorist group, facilitating recruitment and financing travel for terrorism purposes.
The prosecution argued that Ali had played a central role in radicalising and preparing the teenager for terrorism-related activities.
The court agreed finding that the prosecution had established a pattern of ideological indoctrination, recruitment, planning and facilitation.
Ali was sentenced to 10 years in prison on April 27, 2026.
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