A Ugandan national who faced hoax charges under section 26 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act No 30 of 2012 for falsely reporting an imminent terrorist attack was on Tuesday sentenced to five years in prison by the Kahawa Chief Magistrate’s Court.
According to evidence presented before the court, the man was accused of duping the Interpol General Secretariat in France by emailing unsubstantiated reports of an impending terror attack in Kenya by a known terrorist group.
In the email, the man urged the international security agency to warn Kenyan authorities, specifically the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), and provided details of the purported terrorist attack claiming that he was in contact with two of the main organisers.
Among the details divulged in the email were the phone numbers of the alleged perpetrators and their plan to use Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in the attack.
Upon this revelation, detectives drawn from the ATPU division launched investigations into the matter which led to the arrest of one of the suspects linked to a phone number mentioned in the report.
However, the suspect denied any involvement in the terror plot and revealed that although the phone number was registered to her ID card, it belonged to her cousin.
A manhunt then ensued leading to the cousin's arrest in Eastleigh on August 31. Further investigations failed to link the two in the plot and it was determined that they indeed did not have anything to do with the terror plot.
It was at this point that the investigation shifted and the man who had initially reported the imminent attack became a person of interest.
This ultimately led to his arrest at the California Group of Schools in Eastleigh after quickly becoming the main suspect when detectives figured that the attack might have been a hoax.
A search was launched at his residence during the arrest and detectives seized several items used as evidence including; two mobile phones, two laptops, and various documents.
Forensic analysis by analysts at the Anti-Terrorism Forensic Laboratory determined that the suspect was the author of the email sent to Interpol after establishing that it had originated from his Yahoo mail account.
The man later admitted to sending the email out of spite in a bid to punish his wife after they had separated.
After arraignment before Justice Gideon Kiage, the defendant faced the hoax charges in court and was sentenced to a fine of Ksh5,000,000 and in default to serve a term of 5 years imprisonment.
