A family from Nandi county has been thrust into the spotlight after their son, who went missing eight years ago, resurfaced supporting Al Shabaab.
Kiptenai Kosgei, 80, and his family of nine members are under the surveillance of police and other security agencies after his son, Shadrack Kipkoech, 34, resurfaced on Facebook with a new Islamic name.
Identified online as Ismael Kipkoech, Shadrack re-appeared on January 16 with posts that support the terrorist group during the Dusit D2 attack that claimed 21 lives.
In the post, Kipkoech questioned why Kenyan military was neutralising Al Shabaab militants while promising that more attacks were still yet to befall on Kenya.
The post had, however, been pulled down by Facebook after it was widely shared.
The Star further reported that Kipkoech, who was raised by a Christian family in the Jehovah Witness denomination, changed his religion to Islam.
“We are Christians of Jehovah Witness by denomination. I took him all through the lessons to understand properly the doctrine of our faith, but he has decided to support terrorists. I feel so sad,” his mother Flora Kosgey regretted.
Since the revelations came to the fore, Police, Anti-Terror Police Unit, Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers and other security agencies have paid visit to the family.
The situation grew so serious that visitors to the home often asked to be shown the family of the Al Shabaab suspect.
“We are constantly living in fear since my brother made the post from an unknown location. When he called, he could claim he was in Juba. Now we cannot tell if he was in Sudan or Somalia," narrated his brother identified as Keino.
