A former driver attached to the Mandera County government has been sentenced to life in prison over his involvement in the kidnapping of two Cuban doctors by Al Shabaab militants in 2019.
In a judgment delivered by Milimani Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi, Issak Rabow was slapped with a life sentence for carrying out an act of terrorism.
Additionally, he was handed a 25-year sentence for kidnapping and another 15 years for aiding and abetting an act of terrorism after he was found guilty of colluding with the kidnappers.
The Somali national also got an additional sentence of six months after it was determined that he obtained registration documents under false pretense in 2000.
During the 2019 kidnapping, a police officer was killed and another injured as the terrorists abducted the two doctors who were on an exchange programme in the country.
After the doctor's deployment, Rabow had been tasked with driving them to the hospitals and was assigned two officers to provide security during the assignment.
“On or before 12th April 2019, jointly with others not before court aided and abetted the commission of a terrorist act to wit kidnapping and hostage of Dr Assel Herrera Correa and Dr Landy Rodriguez Hernandez.
"The incident also resulted in the death of No. 2015076523 APC Mutundo Kitambo attached to the Critical Infrastructure Protection Unit (CIPU) Mandera East Sub-County," read the charge sheet then.
The sentencing comes one month after the Milimani based magistrate determined that the ex-driver was guilty of the five charges that had been preferred against him.
The magistrate explained that the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping pointed to an elaborate plan that was aided by an insider.
“It only suggests that they were well aware of the target's position, otherwise the most random attack would have targeted the driver to immobilize the car before proceeding to get the target.
"After evaluating the evidence on record, I find the prosecution has proved the charges against the accused person herein and l convict him accordingly under section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC),” the magistrate determined then.
