By Patricia Mollyne Mataga
A court in Nairobi has sentenced Mohamed Abdi Ali alias Abu Ramzi to 12 years in jail.
Abdi was two weeks ago found guilty of five out of eight charges that he was facing.
He has been in prison remand for 8 years following his arrest in 2016 over terrorism-related activities.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the 34-year-old was arrested at a medical facility in Wote, Makueni County, where he was working as an intern medic.
He secured the internship opportunity after completing his studies at the Kampala International University between 2010 and 2015.
During the hearing of the case which was before the Milimani Chief Magistrate Court, the prosecution presented 25 witnesses including Uganda’s Counter-Terrorism detectives, US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agents and Kenya’s Anti-Terrorism Police detectives.
They all testified in the case where Abu Ramzi was found guilty of, among others, being a member of a terrorist group (ISIS), recruitment of members of a terrorist group and possession of articles connected with the commission of a terrorist act.
In her sentence, Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku considered the gravity of the offences committed, sentencing the suspect to 12 years imprisonment for each count, with the five jail terms running concurrently from the time the suspect was arrested in April 2016.
“The DCI commends the investigators for their concerted efforts which swiftly rid the terrorist off the streets, thereby thwarting a biological weapon attack Abu Ramzi was planning,” the agency said in a statement on Monday night.
It further noted that the sentence awarded is adequate for officers at the correctional facilities to help him change.
Kenya has in recent years faced terror attacks, most of which have been linked to Somalia-based Al Shabaab.
Most of the attacks have been in the northern parts of Kenya such as Mandera, Garissa and Lamu.