Mandera court jails 2 women for trafficking minor from Somalia

Ms Halima Adan Hassan and Ms Kheirta Ibrahim before a Mandera court on May 31, 2018. They were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment or pay a Sh30 million fine for human trafficking. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The women pleaded guilty to trafficking the girl from Somalia with intent to transport her to Nairobi.
  • One of the women presented fake documents to the police at the airport.

Two women have been fined Sh30 million each or serve 30 years in jail by a Mandera court after pleading guilty to human trafficking charge.

Ms Halima Adan Hassan and Ms Kheirta Ibrahim Ali, pleaded guilty of trafficking a minor from Somalia before Senior Resident Magistrate Peter Areri.

The two were charged with receiving a 10-year-old girl from Somalia between May 25 and 29 this year and conspiring to further transport the minor to Nairobi through deception.

Ms Hassan faced two other charges including lying to a public officer and getting official documents by false pretence.

“The victim in this case who is a child was facilitated to cross the Kenya-Somalia border by Ms Kheirta Ibrahim Ali, the second accused person,” said state prosecutor Kennedy Amwayi.

Mr Amwayi told the court police investigations revealed that the minor stayed at Ms Ali’s house at Burubru estate in Mandera town until a taxi driver identified as Mr Ahmed Sheikh Hassan picked her up.

“The taxi driver took the young girl to Ms Halima Adan Hassan’s house where she spent a night,” Mr Amwayi said.

It is Ms Hassan who took the girl to the Mandera airstrip on May 29.

At the airport, a police officer noticed anomalies on the child’s birth certificate and that of her purported mother.

After interrogation, the police officer realised the woman was not the child’s biological mother.

While presenting the girl at the airstrip, Ms Hassan also told the police officer that a relative was waiting for the minor at the Wilson Airport in Nairobi.

In mitigation, Ms Hassan Ali told the court that she did not realise that she was committing a crime.

The two have 14 days to appeal the ruling.