Grenade man pleads guilty to terror charge

A 28-year-old man arraigned in court in connection with an arms cache found in a house in Nairobi’s Kayole Estate has confessed to being a member of Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.
“Yes, it is true,” Mr Elgiva Bwire Oliacha alias Mohammed Seif responded to the charge of being a member of the terror group.

Mr Oliacha also admitted to have been in illegal possession of firearms, including an AK-47 rifle, a submachine gun, two revolvers, 13 live hand grenades and 770 assorted rounds of ammunition.

Mr Oliacha, who appeared before Nairobi chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei, also pleaded guilty to causing grievous harm to Mr Justus Mulwa and Mr Patrick Kinyingi.

The two were injured in a grenade attack on Race Course Road, Nairobi, on Monday.

He could be jailed for 15 years for the offence of possessing arms illegally and another seven years for causing grievous harm.

The suspect did not have a lawyer and might change his plea once he gets one. He appeared at ease throughout the proceedings even as he pleaded guilty to all the nine charges.

The prosecutor, Inspector Bridgit Kanyai, sought more time before the facts of the police case could be read to the court.

The firearms and the grenades, which are exhibits, will also be produced in court tomorrow when the case will be mentioned.

Ms Kanyai requested the court to remand the suspect at Kilimani police station as investigations continued.

Mr Oliacha said he had nothing to tell the court on the application by the prosecutor.

Mr Mutembei allowed the request and directed that the accused be produced in court on Friday.

Mr Oliacha is accused of engaging in organised criminal activity by being a member of the outlawed group on October 25 in Nairobi County.

He was allegedly found in unlawful possession of 13 live hand grenades at Kwa James Building in Kayole Phase I Estate.

He also unlawfully possessed 770 assorted ammunition without a firearms certificate, according to the charges.

On the same day, police claim that Mr Oliacha was found in possession of a sub-machine gun, whose serial number had been erased.

He faces two counts of unlawfully possessing two revolvers without a firearms certificate.

Talking to journalists before the start of the case, Mr Oliacha said he wanted his case read out quickly so that he could plead guilty.

Eagerly chatty, the suspect said he was a trained Al-Shabaab member, though he would not give the media details.

His job in Al-Shabaab, he said, was to store firearms and hand them over when they were required.

The two grenades, which had been used at a bar on the city’s Mfangano Lane and at the OTC bus stage, were from his store, he claimed.

His eagerness to plead guilty to serious charges and implicate himself in crime freely in his conversations to the media were unusual.

His statement to the media outside the court proceedings is not part of the evidence and might have no bearing on his innocence.