Accused of Fraud, Man Claims Kenya as “Motherland” in Emotional Defense

An accused person charged with obtaining registration fraudulently and being in the country illegally has urged the court to set him free since Kenya is his motherland.

While defending himself before the Milimani Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi, Abdihakim Said Jama told the court that he is a Kenyan and has no other country to call home, and all these allegations emanated from business rivalry.

According to Jama, he was born in Isiolo County, Ngare Mara location, to his deceased parents as their elder child, three boys, and one girl.

“I was born in Isiolo County Ngare Mara village by my parents Said Jama and Fatuma Mohammed who are now deceased being the eldest son in a family of four,” he told the court.

He produced death certificates of his parents, who died in 2006 and 2008, indicating Isiolo Central as the place of their death.

Jama, who did not acquire a formal school education except for Islamic religious Education (Madrasa), has been doing business in Eastleigh since he came to Nairobi in 2011.

In collaborating his words, he produced a Kenyan identity card which he acquired in 2011 through their area chief, who assisted him to fill the registration form since he could not read or write.

“I produced Madrassa papers and the assistant chief signed the documents and informed me that I have to undergo a vetting process. After vetting, I was taken a photo and fingerprints, given a waiting card and went home,” he said.

He told the magistrate that throughout the entire process, he was assisted since he could neither read nor write. He admitted before the court that he did not even sign the registration documents and was also assisted.

He also produced a passport, driving licence, and a copy of his birth certificate, documents he acquired from the government. He denied the allegations by one of the witnesses that he hails from Somalia,

“I admit to have visited Somalia for business purposes and I acquired a visa to get into that country which I was given by the government,” he defended.

Further, he denied the allegations that he had contested a gubernatorial position in Somalia by saying there is no way a foreigner could contest a political position in a foreign land. Moreover, he said he does not qualify for the position because he is not educated.

Jama told the magistrate that he is now married in Kenya with five children who were born and are studying in Kenya.

When his defence lawyer Sam Nyamberi asked him what the reasons could be for his arraignment, he told the court that it was a business rivalry aiming to malign his name and put him down.

“Your honour this is a business dispute which the elders from my community at Eastleigh tried to sat me and Ayni Hussein down to solve the issues; but she told them she would make sure i must leave this country,” he said.

During cross-examination by the state prosecutor, and asked why the identity card number of the purported mother does not resemble that of her real mother. He could not tell, saying the whole process was assisted, and since he produced the right documents, he could not tell.

“I admit the name bearing in the registration form is that of my late mother but the identity number is not hers,” Jama said.

When he was asked whether the person named Fatuma Mohammed in the registration forms is his mother, he denied it. “She is not my mother.”

He vehemently opposed supplying the said identity card to those who filled the application form, but also admitted failing to produce a copy of his mother’s identity in court.

The court will deliver the judgement on July 23 this year.