Business ownership dispute unearths ID sale syndicate

A 24-year-old Somali national fraudulently acquired a Kenyan national identity card which he later used to dispossess his former employer of her business in Eastleigh, Nairobi.

According to preliminary reports, some unscrupulous government officials were colluding with foreigners to acquire Kenyan identification documents, posing a serious national security threat.

Investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) revealed that Abdihakim Saidi Jama’s purported birth certificate which he used to acquire the national ID card actually belonged to a woman.

A report dated May 17, 2023 by the National Registration Bureau (NRB) showed that the entry number L0090613/13 in Jama’s birth certificate belonged to Anne Gatwiri Kithure, the DCI said.

Following the allegations, investigations into the matter started where communication was made to the Secretary, NRB requesting for certified copies of the printouts in respect to the ID card and vetting minutes.

A report indicated that the ID card number 29651299 was issued by Isiolo NRB office, with a certified copy of the birth certificate showing that Jama’s mother was one Fatuma Mohammed.

Investigations were launched after Ayni Hussein Muhamud, a British national of Somali origin, reported that Jama, who was her employee, tried to steal her business in Eastleigh in 2020.

This was during the Covid-19 pandemic which forced her to remain out of the country for long.

The woman told police she sent clothes from London, UK and China to her three shops in Eastleigh as stock, and even had the ability to monitor the business remotely through CCTV.

However, her world came crashing down when she discovered that her trusted employee had registered the three shops under his own name, disregarding their previous communication.

Muhamud instead sought assistance from the local business community and elders in reclaiming her business.

After hearing both parties’ arguments, the community and elders decided to divide the three shops between them, insisting that she surrenders one of the shops to her employee.

Forgery

Muhamud rejected the suggestion, saying she had single-handedly stocked the shops, paid rent and covered workers’ salaries.

She decided to come to Kenya only to face harassment that even led to her arrest and detention in police custody.

She complained and the matter is currently under investigation by the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).

Muhamud’s legal team then filed a formal complaint with the DCI internal unit, which took over the matter that has now revealed the new developments.

Jama was yesterday arraigned at Makadara Law Court accused of forgery and being unlawfully in Kenya in contravention of section 53 of the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.

Makadara senior principal magistrate Hellen Onkwani ordered the man be detained at Muthaiga Police Station for 14 days as the detectives conclude investigations.

The detectives said a number of investigations by a multi-agency team is already ongoing to nip the scam in the bud.

In one of the cases under investigation, a former administrator from Tana River county and a resident of Eastleigh is said to be helping foreigners acquire national ID cards.

According to an investigations report, the former administrator hails from Mackinon Road Sub-Location Wardei, Tana River.

On December 2, 2022, for example, he took two foreigners to Makadara Huduma Centre reportedly to apply for ID cards while driving a white Toyota Probox. One of them, a woman, indicated that she was born on October 1, 2002.

Some security officials have also been accused of colluding with aliens to get into the country and also failing to repatriate foreigners declared by courts as unlawfully present in the country.

On March 30, for example, two Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) officers were arrested for failing to repatriate four Somali nationals who were found to be in the country illegally.

The foreigners sneaked into the country through Uganda and were arrested. The court ordered that they be taken back to their country and were handed over to the three officers. The foreigners were later released and found in the country.

In another case in Pangani police station last year where a foreigner who was to be repatriated was instead released in unclear circumstances, a senior commander exonerated the OCS, an Inspector and a Corporal.