Man charged for claiming to be Westgate terror attacker
Destroyed cars at the Westgate mall in Nairobi on September 26, 2013.
What you need to know:
- He was also charged with being in possession of literature that appeared to glorify terrorism.
- He pleaded guilty to impersonating a Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer.
A man accused of lying to police officers that he was among al-Shabaab terrorists who attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi in 2013, during which at least 67 people were killed, was on Tuesday charged in an Eldoret court with making a false statement and creating alarm.
He was also charged with being in possession of literature that appeared to glorify terrorism.
Mr Mathew Kiplangat Ng’eno, alias Jamal Mohammed, pleaded guilty to impersonating a Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer.
While appearing before Eldoret Senior Resident Magistrate Emily Kigen, Mr Ng’eno also pleaded guilty to forging a certificate of good conduct. He however denied being in possession of newspaper cuttings depicting al-Shabaab militants marching while brandishing rifles and flags.
The charges state that he was found in possession of the literature on August 2 at Tachasis in Kuresoi, Nakuru County.
He denied another charge of uttering false statements to police constable Phanuel Kaaria on August 18 claiming that he was among the al-Shabaab terrorists who attacked Garissa University College in 2015 where around 150 people lost their lives.
On another count of impersonation, he was charged with impersonating a Kenya Forest Service ranger on August 2 in Kuresoi South Sub-county, Nakuru County.
The accused had been brought to the Rift Valley Anti-Terrorist Police Unit in Eldoret for questioning.
The court directed the case to be mentioned today for further directions including fact reading on the two counts that he pleaded guilty to.
