Matiang’i Blasts Kenyan Judiciary after Akasha Brothers are Convicted in the US

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has taken a swipe at the Kenyan Judiciary for failing to convict known drug traffickers.

Speaking on Monday, CS Matiang’i said Kenyan courts should be ashamed that Akasha brothers were convicted with drug trafficking after being extradited to the US. 

“They never slept in a police cell. They were released 10 times via bonds by Judiciary. Until the Akashas were jailed in the US, they might be roaming here and continuing to kill our youths,” said Matiang’i.

Matiang’i spoke during the launch of 2019-2022 National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (Nacada) framework on Monday.

Baktash Akasha was sentenced to 25 years in jail by a US judge last month after he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and bribery charges alongside his younger brother, Ibrahim Akasha. Ibrahim will be sentenced by the same judge in November.

The two brothers were arrested in Mombasa in 2015 alongside Gulam Hussein and Vijaygiri Goswami in a US-led sting operation. The suspects were extradited to the US by the US Drug Enforcement Agency in January 2017.

Before their arrest, the four were out on bail from charges filed in a Kenyan court by the counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics units.