MOMBASA, Kenya (AFP) - A Kenyan Muslim cleric vowed to seek "divine retribution" to deal with a suspected drug baron and his son, whom Kenyan police have denied are in the country.
Sheikh Khalid Balala was reacting to Wednesday's denial by Kenyan police commissioner Philemon Abong'o of claims by Mombasa residents that the drug baron, Abdallah Akasha Ibrahim, and his son, Bakhtash Akasha, are walking free in the port city despite a court warrant for their arrest over a recent drug haul.
"If a country loses justice or an honest police force, it becomes cursed and deserves divine retribution to stamp out the drug menace destroying Kenyan youth," said Balala during a sermon at a local mosque.
Balala denied that he would marshall the Muslim community in the country to form an anti-drug vigilante group, modeled after People Against Drugs (PAGAD) at Cape Town in South Africa, to counter the barons.
"We have little trust or confidence in the government. We shall not keep quiet even if it will cost our lives. We are not planning a PAGAD, but divine retribution means that a more sophisticated option is contemplated. I've personally seen them twice in town in the past week. They are not hiding. They are being protected by the Kenyan security apparatus," said Balala.
The heavily bearded cleric, who rose to prominence during political upheavals in the early 1990s when he established an Islamic party in Kenya, warned that the drug situation was fast getting out of hand.
The anti-narcotics police in a 4.8-ton hashish haul worth $34 million seized in a house owned by the Akashas in a posh Mombasa residential suburb three weeks ago have implicated them. A local magistrate issued a warrant for their arrest a week later.
Initial media reports indicated that the elder Akasha, wanted by Interpol on drug charges, was holed up in the Netherlands, a contention that the Dutch embassy in Nairobi could not confirm. His son was believed to be still in Mombasa.
A 60-year-old resident identified only as Ahmed said: "It is true that these vandals are in town and we can swear this," pointing out that it was fallacy for Abong'o to deny their presence in the country.
A junior government minister, who requested anonymity, was also quoted on Monday by the local press as telling journalists: "This drug business is a dangerous territory involving untouchables in the system and may require an accident to bring the government to its senses."
A U.N. report described Kenya this week as a major world conduit for drug trafficking.
