Senate staff accused of plot to blow up House off the hook

An employee of the Senate who was arrested over a plot to bomb Parliament has been let off the hook.

Mr Ali Abdul Majid Ahmed, a Hansard editor, walked to freedom on Monday after the prosecution closed his case file without preferring charges against him.

“I have instructions to close the file,” prosecutor Dancun Ondimu told a Nairobi court after the expiry of an ultimatum it had given Anti-Terrorism Police Unit to charge him.

The unit had been directed to either charge or free the suspect in light of prolonged mentions of the case in court.

The court also ordered the release of Mr Ahmed’s mobile phone, which the prosecutor wanted left with police, within 24 hours.

LEAKED REPORT

So was his Sh100,000 bond, which he had deposited to secure his release from custody as investigations went on.

This is the second time Mr Ahmed has walked freedom after being accused of having links with Al-Shabaab.

He was arrested on April 18 after a leaked intelligence report implicated him in alleged profiling of Parliament for a possible terror strike.

The police had told court that Mr Ahmed was an Al-Shabaab linkman on a mission to “case” Parliament buildings for a possible attack.

TERROR CLAIMS

They sought his lock-up as they investigated his “questionable activities.”

“He is considered dangerous to the security of this country bearing in mind the mayhem terrorism has caused before,” the affidavit police presented in court read in part.

It is not the first time Mr Ahmed has been linked to terrorism.

In 2011, he was investigated and “cleared,” according to his lawyer Mbugua Mureithi.

His arrest in April came in the wake of a police mop-up on suspected sympathiser of terror in Kenya.