A Ugandan national has been sentenced to five years in prison for falsely raising a terror attack alarm with Interpol General Secretariat in France in an attempt to punish his wife.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) reported that Moses Kabali sent an email to Interpol on June 30, 2024, urging them to notify Kenyan security agencies about an imminent terrorist attack by a known terrorist group. Kabali claimed he knew two individuals associated with the group who were planning the alleged attack and provided a woman’s phone number, identifying her as one of the suspects.
The DCI added that the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) initiated an investigation, which led to the woman’s arrest. “Upon questioning, she disclosed that the phone number had been registered using her ID card but was being used by her cousin,” the DCI explained. Detectives subsequently tracked down the cousin, who was apprehended in Eastleigh on August 31, 2024, but after interrogation, they were found to have no connections to terrorist groups.
After detectives struggled to connect the dots, Kabali was arrested on September 3, 2024. A search of his residence resulted in the seizure of two mobile phones, two laptops, and various documents. These items were subjected to forensic analysis, which confirmed that the email sent to Interpol originated from his Yahoo mail account.
“It was further established that Kabali authored and sent the malicious email to the Interpol General Secretariat in France out of anger to punish his wife, from whom he had separated,” the DCI stated. Kabali was subsequently presented before Judge Gideon Kiage for sentencing under Section 26 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act No. 30 of 2012, where he received his five-year jail term.