Suspect prayed at mosque before Garissa attack

One of the suspects believed to be behind Garissa University terror attack attended prayers at a local mosque three days before the attack, the trial court heard yesterday.

Kolombo Adao told court that Rashid Charles Mberesero, a Tanzanian national, arrived at the mosque for prayers on March 30, last year, and kept coming for prayers until the day of the attack.

Adao recalled that the suspect had introduced himself as Rashid Ramadhan Dida and was a Kenyan.

"He met me at the mosque as I was opening the door at 3am and said he wanted to worship and I did not object but ushered him in since he was the first to arrive," Adao testified.

Adao told trial magistrate Daniel Ogembo that Mberesero informed him that he had visited his uncle in Garissa but was turned away.

He was testifying in the ongoing case in which Mberesero and his co-accused – Mohamed Ali Abikar, Hassan Edin Hassan, Sahal Diriye Hussein, Osman Abdi Dagane – are facing charges over the terrorist attack at Garissa University College where 142 students and six security officers died.

Mberesero is also facing additional charges of being a member of a terrorist group and being in Kenya unlawfully; both of which he has denied.

Yesterday, Adao who identified Mberesero in court, said he spent most of the time with the suspect at the mosque and that he even at one time used to wash his clothes at the mosque.

Adao testified that unlike other days when he used to come for prayers, on the fateful day of the terror attack, Mberesero arrived at the mosque at 4am with a bag and left immediately.

He said he was arrested three days after Mberesero had disappeared and police recovered the bag from the mosque. He later identified Mberesero when police brought him to the mosque.

The hearing continues today.