DPP appeals court ruling that freed terror convicts
Assistant DPP Duncan Ondimu, in his appeal, argued that releasing Alex Shikanda and Musharaf Abdalla poses a serious security risk and undermines public safety
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge a High Court decision that quashed the 22-year jail sentences of two men convicted of possessing explosives, guns, and ammunition in a foiled terror plot described as potentially the deadliest in Kenya’s history.
Assistant DPP Duncan Ondimu, in his appeal, argued that releasing Alex Shikanda and Musharaf Abdalla poses a serious security risk and undermines public safety.
He told the court that Abdalla had previously escaped from custody during the High Court proceedings and had even detailed an escape plan from Kamiti Maximum Prison.
He also faces a separate terror-related case.
Ondimu said the acquittal orders, issued by Justice Grace Nzioka on June 13, 2025, were wrong in law, adding that public interest, national security, and victims’ rights require the men to remain in custody until the appeal is heard and determined.
Justice Nzioka had ruled that there were doubts over whether the accused were actually in possession of the weapons found in a house in Eastleigh, Nairobi, in 2012.
She noted that Abdalla, though arrested in the house, benefited from unanswered questions in the State’s case. Shikanda, on the other hand, was arrested elsewhere, and the judge said he may not have known about the arsenal.
The 2012 raid uncovered 18 kilograms of explosives, 12 hand grenades, four AK-47 rifles, 421 rounds of ammunition, and suicide vests wired to Nokia phones.
Then-Superintendent of Police Eliud Lagat, now the Deputy Inspector General of Police, testified that the cache could have caused more casualties than the 1998 Nairobi bombing or the Westgate and Garissa University attacks combined.
Another suspect, Abdimajid Yassin Mohamed, pleaded guilty in 2012 and was initially handed sentences amounting to 59 years.
Justice Nzioka later reduced his jail term to seven years, ruling that the charges arose from a single offence and should run concurrently.
The appeal now focuses on whether the High Court erred in overturning Shikanda and Abdalla’s convictions. The DPP insists the men remain in custody as the case proceeds.
