The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) has frozen the bank accounts of Violet Kemunto, the wife of Dusit D2 attacker Ali Salim Gichunge, and a banker, Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe, over suspected terrorist financing.
The two are among 13 individuals placed on Kenya’s Domestic Terrorism Sanctions List following a decision by the Counter-Financing of Terrorism Inter-Ministerial Committee (CFTIMC) on February 4, according to FRC Director-General Saitoti Maika.
The list includes 10 Kenyans, two Tanzanians and a Ugandan national.
Maika said the sanctioned individuals received large sums of money from foreign accounts, allegedly to facilitate the recruitment and movement of people to join Al Shabaab or the Islamic State (IS).
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Kemunto married Gichunge in 2018, months before the January 15, 2019, Dusit D2 attack in Nairobi. According to the FRC, she is suspected of being part of a network facilitating Al Shabaab operations in Somalia.
During the trial of individuals accused of facilitating the Dusit attack, Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Chief Inspector Joseph Kolum testified that Kemunto left Nairobi a day before the attack. Intelligence sources say she crossed into Somalia, where she is alleged to have married senior Al Shabaab commanders.
Machabe, who hails from Nakuru County, was arrested on July 27, 2023, at the Tunduma border between Tanzania and Zambia. The 37-year-old banker is married to Ibrahim Ramadhan.
In a YouTube video posted on December 2, 2021, Machabe claimed her husband had been abducted by ATPU officers while on his way to Kariokor market. Police and intelligence sources say that this was a ploy to hoodwink parents and family, while in reality, he had fled the country for Somalia to join IS.
The FRC alleges Machabe is involved in the recruitment of persons to IS.
“She coordinated and facilitated the movement of the recruits from the East African region to Somalia. She operated under the direct instructions of Jamal Abdi Mohamed, alias Abu Sayaf”.
She was later arraigned at the Kahawa Law Courts and released on bail but subsequently went missing. Police say she remains at large, with intelligence placing her in Somalia, where her husband is believed to be.
Other Kenyans listed include Zakariya Kamal Sufi Abasheikh, Jamal Abdi Mohamed, Hadija Issack Ali, Abdiweli Dubat Dege, Ramadhan Hamisi Kufungwa, Robert Karani Nyokae, Mohamed Siyat Ali and Juma Ambare.
The FRC describes Abasheikh as a facilitator involved in procuring military-grade equipment on behalf of Al Shabaab. Ambare is described as a close associate of Kemunto, allegedly involved in sourcing military equipment, communications gear and drone components for the group.
Jamal Abdi Mohamed is accused of financing and facilitating the movement of recruits from East Africa to Puntland, Somalia, for IS training. He is also linked to a January 26, 2019, improvised explosive device attack along Latema Road in Nairobi, according to the FRC.
“He is currently responsible for financial and logistical facilitation of recruits from East African countries to Puntland, Somalia for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) training.”
Ugandan national Abubaker Swalleh is described as a key conduit for moving IS funds to affiliates in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Tanzanians Salehe Burhani Minja and Jerumami Usama Koja are accused of financing IS activities through cryptocurrency, including funding recruitment and logistics.
Kenyan national Mohamed Siyat Ali is alleged to be a key IS facilitator operating in Moyale, Marsabit County, helping recruits travel through Ethiopia to Somalia, while Abdiweli Dubat Dege is accused of financing the Allied Democratic Forces and IS-linked activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The FRC also named Ramadhan Hamisi Kufungwa, who it says facilitated recruitment networks linked to Al Shabaab, and Robert Karani Nyokae, described as an Al Shabaab operative involved in recruitment and improvised explosive device attacks targeting security installations in Boni Forest.
All allegations remain under investigation.
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The Financial Reporting Centre (FRC) has frozen the bank accounts of Violet Kemunto, the wife of Dusit D2 attacker Ali Salim Gichunge, and a banker, Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe, over suspected terrorist financing.
The two are among 13 individuals placed on Kenya’s Domestic Terrorism Sanctions List following a decision by the Counter-Financing of Terrorism Inter-Ministerial Committee (CFTIMC) on February 4, according to FRC Director-General Saitoti Maika.
The list includes 10 Kenyans, two Tanzanians and a Ugandan national.
Maika said the sanctioned individuals received large sums of money from foreign accounts, allegedly to facilitate the recruitment and movement of people to join Al Shabaab or the Islamic State (IS).
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Kemunto
married Gichunge in 2018, months before the January 15, 2019, Dusit D2 attack in Nairobi. According to the FRC, she is suspected of being part of a network facilitating Al Shabaab operations in Somalia.
During the trial of individuals accused of facilitating the Dusit attack, Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Chief Inspector Joseph Kolum testified that Kemunto left Nairobi a day before the attack. Intelligence sources say
she crossed into Somalia,
where she is alleged to have married senior Al Shabaab commanders.
Machabe
, who hails from Nakuru County, was arrested on July 27, 2023, at the Tunduma border between Tanzania and Zambia. The 37-year-old banker is married to Ibrahim Ramadhan.
In a YouTube video posted on December 2, 2021, Machabe claimed her husband had been abducted by ATPU officers while on his way to Kariokor market. Police and intelligence sources say that this was a ploy to hoodwink parents and family, while in reality, he had fled the country for Somalia to join IS.
The FRC alleges
Machabe
is involved in the recruitment of persons to IS.
“She coordinated and facilitated the movement of the recruits from the East African region to Somalia. She operated under the direct instructions of Jamal Abdi Mohamed, alias Abu Sayaf”.
She was later arraigned at the Kahawa Law Courts and released on bail but subsequently went missing. Police say she remains at large, with intelligence placing her in Somalia, where her husband is believed to be.
Other Kenyans listed include Zakariya Kamal Sufi Abasheikh, Jamal Abdi Mohamed, Hadija Issack Ali, Abdiweli Dubat Dege, Ramadhan Hamisi Kufungwa, Robert Karani Nyokae, Mohamed Siyat Ali and Juma Ambare.
The FRC describes Abasheikh as a facilitator involved in procuring military-grade equipment on behalf of Al Shabaab. Ambare is described as a close associate of Kemunto, allegedly involved in sourcing military equipment, communications gear and drone components for the group.
Jamal Abdi Mohamed is accused of financing and facilitating the movement of recruits from East Africa to Puntland, Somalia, for IS training. He is also linked to a January 26, 2019, improvised explosive device
attack along Latema Road
in Nairobi, according to the FRC.
“He is currently responsible for financial and logistical facilitation of recruits from East African countries to Puntland, Somalia for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) training.”
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Ugandan national Abubaker Swalleh is described as a key conduit for moving IS funds to affiliates in Eastern and Southern Africa.
Tanzanians Salehe Burhani Minja and Jerumami Usama Koja are accused of financing IS activities through cryptocurrency, including funding recruitment and logistics.
Kenyan national Mohamed Siyat Ali is alleged to be a key IS facilitator operating in Moyale, Marsabit County, helping recruits travel through Ethiopia to Somalia, while Abdiweli Dubat Dege is accused of financing the Allied Democratic Forces and IS-linked activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
The FRC also named Ramadhan Hamisi Kufungwa, who it says facilitated recruitment networks linked to Al Shabaab, and Robert Karani Nyokae, described as an Al Shabaab operative involved in recruitment and improvised explosive device attacks targeting security installations in Boni Forest.
All allegations remain under investigation.
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By Fred Kagonye