Moses Kabali, a Ugandan national, has received a five-year prison sentence from the Kahawa Chief Magistrate Court for hoaxing charges under Section 26 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act No. 30 of 2012.
The court established that on June 30, 2024, Kabali sent an email to the Interpol General Secretariat in France. In his message, he urged the agency to alert Kenyan security agencies, particularly the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), about an imminent terrorist attack by a known terrorist group.
Kabali claimed that two individuals, whom he knew, were collaborating with unknown operatives to carry out a planned attack in Kenya using Improvised Explosive Devices.
Following the email, ATPU detectives launched an investigation that led to the arrest of a female suspect whose phone number Kabali had mentioned in his report.
During questioning, she revealed that the phone number was registered under her ID card but was being used by her cousin. This prompted a manhunt for the cousin, who was apprehended on August 31, 2024, in Eastleigh, Jam Street.
However, investigators determined that she had no ties to any terrorist group and was unaware of any planned attack.
To further unravel the situation, authorities arrested Kabali on September 3, 2024, at the California Group of Schools in Eastleigh.
A search of his residence uncovered two mobile phones, two laptops, and various documents. Forensic analysis confirmed that Kabali authored the email from his Yahoo mail account.
Investigators concluded that Kabali sent the malicious email out of anger to punish his estranged wife. He faced the charges in court and, upon sentencing by Hon. Gideon Kiage, was ordered to pay a fine of Kes.5,000,000 or serve a five-year prison term.
