A court in Nairobi found guilty a boda boda rider who is believed to have gathered intelligence on Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) and relayed it to a terrorist group in Somalia.
According to Senior Principal Magistrate Benard Ochoi ruling on Monday, January 16, the suspect carried out surveillance on the iconic KICC building in 2019.
During the mission, he was tasked to establish the number of entrances the iconic building had and determine how the security searches were conducted.
Additionally, the court heard that the boda boda rider was tasked with finding the exact location of CCTV cameras, loading zones, parking areas and toilets.
The suspect, operating as a trader and a boda boda rider, shared the information with another person in Somalia, who detectives established had the motives for bombing the landmark building.
Information gathered was shared through different pseudo-Facebook accounts. However, detectives gathered information about the planned attack and arrested the suspect before the execution took place.
"It is my finding, also, that the prosecution has proved both counts beyond a reasonable doubt, and he is convicted of the same," the judge ruled.
Defending himself, the suspect argued that his contact in Somalia was a sugar merchant. He also told the court that his contact in Somalia wanted to hold a cultural event at KICC.
According to the prosecution, the boda boda rider was compelled to acquire new mobile phones, register new sim cards and create three new Facebook accounts. This was to help him conceal his identity.
He allegedly used lost National Identity Cards to register new sim cards, which he used to communicate with extremist groups in Somalia.
Besides conducting surveillance on KICC, the suspect is also believed to have gathered information on different routes from Nairobi to Elwak Mandera County.
During his journey, he monitored the number of roadblocks and how police officers stopped motorists for random inspections.
According to detectives, the information was to help the extremist group escape after bombing the conference centre.
