Court to rule on request to hold lawyer Chacha Mwita for 20 days in a terror related probe

A court will on Wednesday rule on if police will hold lawyer Chacha Mwita for 20 days. Mwita who has been defending terror suspects and other high profile cases in Mombasa will remain in police custody until November 19 when court will rule on Anti-Terror Police Unit’s request to detain him for 20 days.

He is under investigations over alleged links to terror financing after his arrest on Friday in Mombasa.

Kahawa West Magistrate Gideon Kiage is expected to rule on Wednesday whether he will be detained for 20 days.

He was taken back to custody pending the ruling. He interacted with his lawyers at court when he was brought there.

Anti-terrorism police said Friday they had disrupted what they describe as one of the most intricate terrorism facilitation networks identified in the country in ongoing fight against extremism.

Nine suspects, including Mwita were arrested in an operation in Mombasa ahead of planned arraignment.

This followed extensive intelligence-led inquiries and a series of coordinated operations by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU).

Officials said the probe had extended to the neighboring countries.

Central to the matter are approximately ten young recruits who were arrested earlier this year while allegedly preparing to leave the country for a mission.

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Their detention has reportedly been pivotal in guiding investigators toward the broader network.

The recruits are said to have been influenced online and through local contacts before being moved through Kenya to Puntland, in northern Somalia, and later to Yemen.

These areas are described by security officers as transit points for individuals aiming to connect with ISIS affiliates as pressure mounts on the group’s strongholds elsewhere.

“Kenya serves as a corridor. Once they reach Puntland, arrangements are made to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen, where they link up with established ISIS cells,” an official said.

The lawyer, known for previously representing several terror suspects, is reported to have first interacted with the extremist network while defending radicalised youths facing terror-related charges in Kenyan courts.

“Over time, he is believed to have moved from solely offering legal services to becoming involved in the wider facilitation network.”

Authorities allege that some of his legal fees were linked to extremist financiers associated with ISIS and that he later agreed to help coordinate various aspects of the network’s activities.

Authorities say the lawyer used cryptocurrency to fund terror operations. His legal representatives denied the claims.

The lawyer is expected to face charges related to terror financing, membership in a terror organisation, and participation in a criminal network, with the specific counts to be confirmed when the suspects appear in court.

Read Also Suspects in murder of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu detained for 15 days pending probe The Chief Magistrate's Court at Milimani Friday granted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) 15 days to continue detaining four suspects linked to the murder of Nairobi lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu, pending investigations. Chief Magistrate Gethi Kibiru ordered the four suspects Julias Cheruiyot, Nicholas Naula Lemiso, Noah Kipkurui Langat and Kennedy Kipkemei will be held at Gigiri, Parklands, Kibra and Muthangari police stations respectively. Mbobu, a city lawyer and partner at Kyalo and Associates in Nairobi's Central Business District, was gunned down on the evening of September 9, 2025, while driving his white Toyota Land Cruiser near Brookhouse International School in Lang'ata. Investigators said he was ambushed by armed assailants riding on a motorcycle, who opened fire before fleeing the scene. Police officers who processed the scene recovered bullet fragments and other ballistic exhibits, while a subsequent search of the lawyer's vehicle yielded a spent cartridge, bullet heads and additional fragments that were submitted to the government ballistic laboratory for forensic examination. An autopsy conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor concluded that Mbobu died from multiple gunshot injuries after sustaining eight bullet wounds to the upper body and neck. Two bullet heads recovered during the postmortem were also forwarded for ballistic analysis. According to an affidavit sworn by Homicide Investigations Bureau officer Inspector Patrick Wachira, detectives reconstructed the lawyer's final movements using CCTV footage and call data records. The investigation further established that Mbobu was representing the family of Professor David Musyimi Ndetei in a land dispute pending before the Machakos Environment and Land Court, a matter investigators believe may have provided the motive for the killing. Detectives told Chief Magistrate Kibiru that ballistic analysis linked cartridge cases and recovered bullets to a CZ 85B pistol, which had allegedly been issued to the first suspect Cheruiyot, a police officer attached to Pangani Police Station. The DCI alleged that Cheruiyot fired the fatal shots after being transported to the scene on a motorcycle ridden by Lemiso. Langat is accused of trailing the lawyer's vehicle from his office, while Kipkemei allegedly participated in planning meetings alongside the other suspects and an alleged financier identified as Rose Mbithe who is the former wife of Ndetei. The four suspects were arrested on September 24, during what detectives described as an intelligence-led operation. Police recovered a firearm, mobile phones, two motorcycles and other items that are yet to undergo forensic examination. The DCI had sought to detain the suspects for 30 days, arguing that they posed a flight risk, could interfere with witnesses, collude with accomplices still at large and compromise ongoing intelligence-led investigations. Investigators also cited public interest and concerns for the suspects' safety because of widespread outrage over the lawyer's murder. "The investigations remain active and intelligence-led, with several investigative leads yet to be pursued," read the court documents. The matter will be mentioned on October 9, 2026.

Investigators claim to have assembled what they term “overwhelming” material connecting the group to financing, logistical support, and the movement of recruits to ISIS cells abroad, particularly via Puntland to Yemen.

The latest operation is the result of months of surveillance and financial analysis.

The ATPU reports having traced a significant financial trail linking the arrested individuals to the recruitment and movement of young Kenyans to conflict zones.

Police sources said the material evidence includes bank transfers, hotel booking records, cross-border travel documents, and various digital transactions processed through cryptocurrencies, which operate outside traditional banking systems.

“This is a well-structured facilitation network,” one security official said.

“We have financial experts, advocates, tour operators, hoteliers, and boda boda operators working together to move money, individuals, and information. The documentary material we possess is substantial.”

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