Kenya names 9 terrorism financiers, freezes assets

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) - Kenya’s Interior Ministry on Wednesday named nine top financiers of terror activities carried out by Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab group.

In a statement, Fred Matiang'I directed all the assets of the individuals be seized and funds frozen for supporting al-Shabaab that has wreaked havoc in East Africa leading to the deaths of thousands of people and destruction of property.

“The only way to deny terrorists the means to threaten our way of life is to choke their facilitation networks, and this is why I have published the foregoing list so that they can no longer finance Al-Shabaab’s operations within our borders,” Citizen TV Kenya quoted Matiang'I as saying.

The accused include Halima Adan Ali, Waleed Ahmed Zein, Sheikh Guyo Gorsa Boru, Mohammed Abdi Ali (Abu Fidaa), Nuseiba Mohammed Haji, Abdimajit Adan Hassan, Mohammed Ali Abdi, Muktar Ibrahim Ali and Mire Abdullahi Elmi.

Kenya contributes troops to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia which has weakened al-Shabaab that has been fighting to overthrow the Somali government for years.

Al-Shabaab has vowed to carry out terror attacks in Kenya until Kenya pulls out its soldiers from Somalia. In 2015, more than 140 university students were killed by the group marking their worst attack in Kenya.