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Somalia teenagers freed on Bail in Kenyan flag desecration case
A screengrab of the moment that got a teen in trouble. He is accused of desecrating the Kenyan flag at Nyayo Stadium during a football match between Mogadishu City Club and Police FC.
Two Somali teenagers arrested for desecrating the Kenyan flag have been released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 each, with two sureties, after spending five days in police custody.
The minors were handed over to their Kenyan relative, Mohamed Ali, by Milimani Children’s Court Magistrate Rose Gitau. Mr Ali, a businessman, is to produce the two in court whenever required.
The magistrate further directed that their release documents be signed by two sureties, one of whom must be a Kenyan.
The teenagers have not yet taken a plea on the three counts filed against them by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga.
Their arraignment is pending the submission of a probation officer’s report to confirm their ages, and a Child Welfare Bureau (CBO) officer’s report to establish whether they are school-going and the reasons for their travel to Kenya.
Magistrate Gitau also directed the bureau to ascertain whether the two boys, aged 14 and 17, were in Kenya seeking asylum.
The reports are to be presented in court on October 8, 2025, when the charges will be read out to the minors.
They face allegations of being in Kenya illegally, desecrating a national symbol — the Kenyan flag — and causing disturbance. The magistrate noted that while the charges are serious and touch on immigration laws, the minors have not yet entered a plea.
The two, who had been held at the Gigiri Police Station’s Children Protection Unit do not understand either English or Kiswahili. The magistrate directed that the CBO and probation reports be prepared through a court interpreter.
Defence lawyer Ishmael Nyaribo informed the court that the boys’ mothers had travelled from Somalia to assist the court in seeking justice and to take custody of their children.
“Pending the age-assessment and juvenile reports, the two suspects will remain at the Gigiri Police Station’s CPU for four days,” the magistrate ruled.
This followed a request from the prosecution, which argued that the true ages of the suspects had not yet been verified by the Eastleigh Children’s Office in Nairobi.
Mr Nyaribo told the court the boys were innocent.
“They were simply playing football and had no ill motive in desecrating the flag,” he said.
He added that the matter should not escalate into a diplomatic dispute between Kenya and Somalia, stressing that the teenagers were in Kenya to visit relatives.
