NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 18- All the three terror convicts who mysteriously sneaked out of the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison over the weekend, have been re-arrested while en route to Somalia, a day after two top prison officials were arrested and Wycliffe Ogallo fired as Commissioner General of Kenya Prisons Service.
Mohammed Ali Abikar, Joseph Juma Odhiambo and Musharaf Abdallah Washiali aka Shukri aka Alex Shikanda were arrested in Kitui, anti-terrorism officials said.
Detectives were tipped off by members of the public. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations had placed a sh60 million bounty for anyone who will provide information that would lead to their arrest.
How Did They Escape?
Though it is not definitively clear how the three fugitives escaped from Kamiti, Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i said preliminary investigations suggested the escape from arguably the most secured maximum prison facility in the country was abetted by laxity and incompetence.
Already, 7 wardens from Kamiti have since been arrested and charged in court, while on Wednesday, Commandant of Kamiti Prison Charles Mutembei and his deputy were arrested and grilled at the DCI Headquarters.
“We will not only go the direction investigations will point us but we will act resolutely to ensure this kind of recklessness does not happen again because it exposes our people. Definitely, there is a certain level of irresponsibility we have to deal with in this particular case,” CS Matiangi asserted.
Detectives questioning the seven wardens at the Kamiti Maximum Prison reported inaccuracies in some of the guard’s testimonials, raising more queries than answers.
“We have gone to the place where the escape allegedly happened, and we have formed certain opinions. We don’t want to discuss that because we don’t want to interfere with the work that the DCI is doing,” Matiang’i said on Monday.
Change of Guard At Kenya Prisons Service
After some 48 hours of heads rolling and intensified search, President Uhuru Kenyatta fired Ogallo.
The President then oversaw the swearing-in of Brigadier (Rtd) John Kibaso Warioba as the new Kenya Prisons Commissioner General.
His predecessor was dramatically hounded out of his office after handing over, taken to the DCI headquarters while sandwiched between two Anti-Terror Police Unit detectives.
He was later released, with his lawyer Assa Nyakundi telling Shahidi News that his client did not receive any explanation on why he was taken to the DCI headquarters.
“He has been released unconditionally. He is now free but I don’t know about the others,” said Nyakundi. The police headquarters said they only facilitated a smooth transition and scored the former prison boss to his home.
President Kenyatta said that the matter was of grave concern and had exposed Kenya to a lot of security concerns, as a result demanding accountability, in the ranks of the leadership of all security organs.
“In keeping with our ethos of good governance, in the intervening period and pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigations, the State Department of Correctional Services has similarly been directed to sanction disciplinary action against all Kenya Prisons Service personnel who were on duty when the security breaches occurred; which action shall include redeployment and/or immediate suspension of all affected officers,” the President said.
Musharraf Abdallah alias Shukri or Alex Shikanda was serving a 22-year sentence after he was convicted for being in possession of explosives and firearms. He is also said to have been planning an attack on parliament in 2019.
Joseph Juma Odhiambo was convicted for travelling to a terrorist designated country without passing through a designated immigration exit point and failing to report departure to the immigration office.
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