Revered Kenyan lawyer Cliff Ombeta has opened up a time he escaped Tanzanian Police Station after his arrest.
In a sit-down with Daily Nation that was published on Sunday, August 8, the lawyer revealed that he had gone to pick his 10 clients when the tables turned on him and they all found themselves behind bars.
His clients had been accused of robbing Tanzania's National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Moshi branch, where the authorities claimed that they made away with Ksh244 million (in today's exchange rate) on May 21, 2004.
The lawyers who represented the suspects claimed that the 10 were arrested illegally in 2005 after they won a case against their extradition.
In his case, Ombeta revealed that he was picked up at Maputo International Airport while transiting to Nairobi after he had gone to Tanzania to pick up his clients.
He further accused the Kenya Police officers of playing a part in their troubles explaining that they confisicated their passports and ordered them to travel via a different line.
Ombeta further told the publication that he was thrown into a van and driven to the border with Tanzania where he was taken to a police station awaiting to be processed.
“Kenyan police are the ones who handed our guys to Tanzania,” he stated.
His big break, however, came when a police officer who was tasked with monitoring him became distracted giving him a window to change clothes and put on a cap.
“I changed clothes and wore a cap. I unlocked the door and walked out, leaving my bag, crossed to the Mozambican side and took a taxi back to Maputo.
“We had defeated the Tanzanians twice in court and they wanted to arrest me because I was defending the Kenyans,” he added.
When he got to Maputo, in Mozambique, he took a taxi and crossed the border to South Africa from where he booked a flight to Nairobi.
Meanwhile, his clients got locked up until three of them including William Onyango Nganyi, Patrick Muthee Mrithi, and Simon Ndungu Kiambuthi got freed after serving 15-year jail terms.
Tanzania’s Court of Appeal ruled on July 3, 2020, to free them.
