Government freezes accounts, properties of terror suspects
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i yesterday ordered the freezing of funds and property of nine suspected terror financiers.
Move follows recent reorientation of the country’s counter-terrorism policy that now incorporates preventive and socio-economic interventions into the existing security and military operations.
Suspects; Halima Ali, Waled Zein, Sheikh Boru, Mohammed Ali aka Abu Fidaa and Nuseiba Haji, Abdimajit Hassan, Mohammed Abdi, Muktar Ali and Mire Elmi have been on police radar for a while.
Matiang’i warned that terrorism remained the single biggest threat to global peace and security, and that there was need to adopt new strategies.
“Being one of the nations at the frontline against this vice on the continent, Kenya now faces blatant, increasingly complex and evolving terror threats, particularly from Al Shabaab.
We will not hesitate to subject any individual or entity seeking to harm our people to the full force of the law,” he said.
Interior CS further warned that terrorists were also progressively planting operatives among the civilians strategically to advance their agenda through recruitment and radicalisation to violent extremism and terrorism.
Subtle threats
“Consequently we are facing subtle threats from all-pervasive domestic actors, both individual and entities, attacking from within.
The government has reoriented the counterterrorism policy to incorporate preventive and socio-economic interventions into the existing security and military operations,” he said.
He, at the same time, revealed that the government had made great strides towards strengthening the community deterrence efforts.
Two of the suspects, Halima Ali and Waleed Zein, are said to have transacted over Sh30 million in facilitating terror activities in the country.
