Three Kenya Prisons Service (KPS) officers who facilitated high risk terrorists placed under maximum security watch to escape custody are awaiting sentencing after they were convicted of criminal offences, including aiding the escape of prisoners.
They are Robert Kipkirui, Willy Wambua and Moses Kaikai Talengo who were found guilty of neglect of official duty, aiding escape of prisoners and organising a meeting in support of a terrorist group.
And the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has called for maximum punishment for the three officers who looked the other way as the dangerous terrorists staged the exits.
The trio facilitated convicted terrorists Musharaf Abdala who has several aliases, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo.
The three terrorists serving lengthy jail terms escaped on the night of November 14-15 2021 when they fled the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Nairobi, before they were re-arrested in Mwingi East Sub-County, Kitui County.
The office of Director of Public Prosecutions has secured a conviction of the three wardens for the offences after assembling 14 witnesses to prove the cases against the disgraced officers. The officers will be sentenced on January 20, 2026.
Senior Principal Magistrate Boaz Kombewa of the Kahawa Law Courts noted that “the escape was clearly well-planned and must have taken a considerable amount of time to execute”.
Principal prosecution counsels James Machirah, Kennedy Amwayi Harrison Kiarie and Gideon Kiprono proved their cases against the convicts relying on the witnesses to prove that Wambua and colleagues directly and/or indirectly willfully aided the escape of convicts who were in lawful custody serving sentences for terrorism-related offences.
He also organized a meeting between four convicted terror inmates at Condemned Block “A,” Cell No. 6, by facilitating the movement of Abdul Majid Yassin from Cell No. 2 to the said Cell No. 6, in contravention of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012.
Mohamed Ali Abikar, who took part in the Garissa University Terror attack of April 2015, where 142 students were slaughtered, is among the terrorists facilitated to escape prison by the wardens who traded their patriotism in the worst betrayal of Kenyans.
Abikar was serving a 41-year jail term for his role in the worst attack, where five security officers also lost their lives.
Musharaf Abdala had been arrested on September 30, 2012, for involvement in a foiled terror attack targeting Parliament Buildings, Nairobi, while plotting to kill all the Members of Parliament in a single attack, and was charged with possession of explosives, ammunition and firearms before he was jailed.
Joseph Juma Odhiambo was also serving a terrorism-related sentence. The inmates are also on trial for escaping lawful custody and the outcome will lead to the extension of their initial jail terms.
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