Three terror convicts who escaped from Kenya’s Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in 2021 have been sentenced to an additional 15 years in prison each by the ODPP.
The statement by the ODPP on Friday reads that Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage, sitting at the Kahawa Law Courts, sentenced Musharaf Abdala, Mohamed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo after prosecutors established that they knowingly escaped from lawful custody in circumstances that prejudiced national security.
The three escaped from Kamiti on the night of November 14 and the morning of November 15, 2021, while serving sentences for terrorism-related offences.
Their escape triggered a major security operation and raised questions over how prisoners convicted of serious terrorism offences had managed to leave one of Kenya’s highest-security correctional facilities.
The court heard that after escaping, the three travelled together from Kamiti towards Kitui using motorcycles and public service vehicles before proceeding to Endao.
They later abandoned conventional transport and walked through informal routes to avoid detection.
Prosecutors said the men did not have identification documents and deliberately used less-travelled routes as they attempted to remain ahead of security agencies.
The court found that their decision to remain together after escaping demonstrated a common intention to evade recapture.
Magistrate Kiage said their conduct was inconsistent with the argument that they were merely attempting to flee individually.
“If their only intention was to flee and evade re-capture, it would have made more sense to split up and go in different directions. This would have reduced their chances of detection,” the court ruled.
The three were convicted of committing a terrorist act contrary to Section 4(1) of Kenya’s Prevention of Terrorism Act.
The additional sentences will be served after their existing prison terms, although the court issued a different order for Abdala because of the outcome of his earlier appeal.
Odhiambo was already serving a 15-year prison sentence following his conviction in Mandera for offences relating to travelling to a terrorist-designated country, failing to report his departure and leaving Kenya through a non-designated border point.
His additional 15-year term will begin after he completes the sentence he was already serving when he escaped.
Abikar was serving a cumulative 41-year sentence following his conviction at the Milimani Law Courts in connection with the 2015 Garissa University attack.
The attack, one of Kenya’s most serious terrorist incidents, killed 148 people when gunmen targeted students at Garissa University College.
The court ordered Abikar to serve the additional 15 years after completing his 41-year sentence.
Abdala’s circumstances were different. He had previously received a 22-year prison sentence but was later acquitted on appeal by the High Court.
The Kahawa court ordered that his additional 15-year sentence should run from the date of his acquittal.
The prosecution argued that the circumstances of the escape and the convicts’ subsequent movements demonstrated a deliberate effort to evade lawful custody.
The case also highlights the continuing legal consequences of the 2021 Kamiti escape, in which the authorities were required to trace prisoners convicted of serious offences after they breached custody at a maximum-security facility.
The prosecution team comprised James Machirah, Kennedy Amwayi, Anthony Musyoka, Kelvin Kamau and Ben Owang.
The latest ruling means the three convicts will face substantial additional periods of imprisonment, with their sentences structured around the terms they were already serving or, in Abdala’s case, the date on which his earlier conviction was overturned.