Trial of ‘Black widow’ fails to take off
Kenyan banker turned terror suspect Ms Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe (left) on August 21, 2023 when she appeared at Kahawa Law Courts.
The trial of Kenyan banker-turned-terrorism suspect Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe has failed to get off the ground after the defence team filed an application in court seeking to ban the media from covering the proceedings on grounds of bias.
Ms Nakhumicha appeared before Kahawa Law Courts in Kiambu County before Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage where the accused, through his lawyer Mwita Chacha, informed the court that since her arrest on July 27, and subsequent arraignment in court on August 7, the media has continued to condemn her in public even before she is given a fair trial by demonising her before she is found guilty or innocent.
Ms Machabe has been in custody for 14 days since her last court appearance as police sought more time to investigate her suspicious activities further.
The media is here to create a Jesus movement to persecute the accused in public, the media has already convicted her before a fair trial, for instance, the photograph used by the local dailies with wide circulation was taken when she was in the custody of the Anti-Terror Police Unit and leaked to the media by the authorities to achieve a certain agenda,'' Mr Mwita Chacha told the court, maintaining that he feared the accused would not get justice because she had already been crucified in public.
Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe, a terror suspect, 34, who was arrested on July 27, 2023, at the Tunduma border-town between Tanzania and Zambia.
But prosecution lawyer Jillo Nguyo opposed the application, telling the court that barring the media from court proceedings was a violation of media freedom and that the matter was of public interest.
I oppose the application to bar the media from covering the court proceedings because under Article 34, members of the media have a right to information, the matter before the court is also of public interest and I pray the court to allow the matter to be heard in open court,'' Ms Nguyo told the court.
Kahawa Law Courts Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage on his part asked both parties to file short briefs before Wednesday 23rd when the court will give further directions on the matter.
Both parties are directed to file brief submissions before Wednesday when the court will give further directions on the matter,'' the magistrate said.
Authorities believe Zuena Nakhumicha Machabe, 34, reportedly joined the Islamic State or Daesh terrorist group in Puntland, Somalia, in mid-2021, where she was one of the group's logisticians.
IS-Somalia has been trying to undermine the influence of al-Shabaab in Somalia, another extremist group that the Kenyan Defence Forces invaded Somalia after taking responsibility for frequent and heinous attacks on Kenyan soil.
She has also been linked by police to terrorist activities in Tanzania and Ethiopia.
Ms Machabe was arrested by the Tanzanian authorities on 27 July in the town of Tunduma, near the Zambian border, as she attempted to cross incognito with her three minor children.
She was later handed over to the Kenyan authorities.
Ms Machabe attended Nakuru Lions Primary School Academy and later Mary Mount Secondary School, and went on to study for a bachelor's degree in business management and information at a local university.
