By Debra Rono
A Mombasa court on Wednesday detained two suspected terrorist recruiters.
The court granted the police 21 days to complete its investigation into the alleged crimes.
They are suspected of recruiting youths in Mombasa to join terrorist groups.
Yusuf Mrafi (27) and Ali Mwalimu Mwinyi (21) are accused of seeking to recruit teenagers in Likoni for Al-Shabaab and ISIS terrorist groups by spreading the teachings of the late extremist Muslim Sheikh Aboud Rogo.
“The officer linked the two to a man called Nassor nicknamed ‘Rogo’ suspected to have gone to join Al Shabaab, who got radicalized after accessing videos of Aboud Rogo’s preaching from the social media site TikTok,” said the statement.
According to Shanzu senior resident Magistrate David Odhiambo, Mwinyi and Mrafi are also alleged to have radicalized one of their known associates who joined Al-Shabaab after being radicalized by the duo.
According to the ODPP, the two suspects informed the police that Aboud Rogo’s teachings were still being used to radicalize others and no arrests had been made yet.
The hearing is set for May 7, 2024.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki had earlier in March revealed that the government had in the last six months spent 7.6 Billion in the purchase of sophisticated, protected, and mobility equipment, under the Police Equipment Modernization (PEM) program and is planning to spend Ks. 29.4 Billion for the same over the next three years.
Read more: Govt Pumps Ksh 29 Billion To Fight Terror, Here Is How It Will Be Spent
Among the equipment, the government is planning to procure to boost the efforts of the armed forces in the fight against terrorism are Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), and Armored Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).
The others are; Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Attack Helicopters, Mine-Clearing vehicles, and Personal Protective Gears.
Kindiki revealed this while dispatching the first batch of equipment to support Operation Maliza Uhalifu in the North Rift.
The apparatus will be extended to cover the northern grazing area of Meru County, Isiolo, and Marsabit counties and counter-terrorism efforts in the Northeastern region and the Boni enclave in Lamu.