Kenyan President Kenyatta sacks head of prisons service over jailbreak

Kenyan President Ururu Kenyatta has sacked the head of prison service in the country, Wycliffe Ogalo, after three inmates escaped from the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.,Kenya

The inmates are serving jail terms for terror-related offences.

In a statement issued by his office, Kenyatta said the former prisons chief who has been arrested, would be replaced with immediate effect “to entrench accountability in the ranks of the leadership of all security organs.”

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Kenyatta also directed security agencies to use “all available resources” to go after the fleeing inmates and ensure they are re-arrested.

The fugitives, whose photographs had been circulated in all the regions of the East African country, include Mohamed Ali Abikar, who was convicted for his role in the 2015 Garissa University attack in which 148 people were killed.

The second man was arrested in 2012 over a foiled attack on the Kenyan parliament and the third for trying to join the Al-Shabab militant group in Somalia.

The government also offered a reward of 20million Kenya shillings ($178,000; £132,000) for information that could lead to the arrest of the inmates.

Interior CS Fred Matiang’i said preliminary investigations suggested the escape from arguably the most secured maximum prison in the country was abetted by laxity and incompetence.

The terrorists vanished from Kamiti prison on the morning of November 15 in what Ogallo could only describe as an “unfortunate incident.”

Matiang’i led a senior security team to Kamiti prison last evening. He further announced a massive manhunt involving specialised teams had been launched across the country for Musharraf Abdalla Akhulunga a.k.a Zarkarawi, Mohammed Ali Abikar and Joseph Juma Odhiambo a.k.a Yusuf.

The CS said more arrests and prosecutions will follow after the Directorate of Criminal Investigations moved in to probe the prison break.

The incident came in the wake of another shocking incident a month ago where a serial killer- Masten Wanjala- walked out of a police station where he was being held.