•Milimani Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi on Wednesday ruled that Robow was guilty of the offences after the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
•Robow was an employee of the county for over 20 years until the incident happened.
Image: STEPHEN ASTARIKO
A former Mandera County driver accused of abducting two Cuban doctors and commissioning a terrorist act that left one police officer dead in 2019, has been found guilty of the offence.
Issack Ibrein Robow was found guilty on four counts, including the commissioning of a terrorist act, kidnapping and hostage-taking, aiding and abetting a terrorist act and obtaining registration by false pretences.
Robow was an employee of the county for over 20 years until the incident happened.
Milimani Principal Magistrate Martha Nanzushi on Wednesday ruled that Robow was guilty of the offences after the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
He was, however, acquitted on the fifth count of unlawfully being in the country.
Magistrate Martha Nanzushi ruled that although the prosecution had alleged that Robow was not a Kenyan national, it failed to prove that he is a Somali.
While convicting him, the magistrate relied on circumstantial evidence and noted that the accused failed to act during the incident.
"If the driver jumped from the motor vehicle and left the engine running, the circumstances would have been different," she said.
The court added that the driver was not a target in the kidnap since the abductors did not force him to stop. He stopped willingly.
In normal circumstances, the kidnappers target the driver first but in the said incidence, they did not.
She said that from the analysis, it was clear the gunmen targetted the officer seated in the front passenger seat.
“It only suggests that they were well aware of the target's position, otherwise the most random attack would have targeted the driver to immobilize the car before proceeding to get the target,” she said.
The court heard that the vehicle, which Robow was driving, had five occupants, one died, two escaped and the two were kidnapped.
The circumstances in the case were that the two doctors were to be kidnapped, the armed officers were to be gotten rid of, luckily one managed to escape but the accused was to be unharmed.
The magistrate further found that if they wanted to harm him, they would have done so since the proximity was such an advantage to the assailants.
She, however, said the accused is a victim of ignorance which of course is not a defence.
“I find the accused guilty on counts 1,2,3 and 4 as charged. No sufficient evidence adduced to this court in respect to count 5,” the magistrate ruled.
In the first count, Robow was charged with committing a terrorist act which resulted in the death of APC Mutundo Kitambo attached to the critical infrastructure protection unit (CIPU) in Mandera County.
The officer was deployed to escort duties of Dr Assei Herrera Correa and Dr Landy Rodriguez Hernandez both Cuban doctors seconded to the Mandera County Referral Hospital.
Robow committed the offence on April 12, 2019, around 0900 hours in Mandera County with others not before the court.
Isaack faced another count of kidnapping and taking hostage of Herrera and Hernandez.
He was charged that on the same date and place, he, jointly with others, while being the driver of a Government vehicle registration number GKA 221U, a Toyota Hilux, facilitated the kidnapping and hostage-taking of the two doctors.
The charge sheet further read that Isaack aided and abetted a terrorist act that resulted in the death of constable Katambo and the subsequent kidnapping of the two doctors.