The Kahawa Law Court will on Wednesday deliver its ruling on an application by the Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) seeking to detain prominent lawyer Chacha Mwita for 20 days as investigations into alleged terror-related activities intensify.
Mwita was arrested in Mombasa over the weekend before being transported to Nairobi, where he has remained in police custody.
He is accused of facilitating terrorist acts and offering services to terrorist organisations — allegations his defence team has strongly rejected.
According to prosecutors, preliminary investigations have tied the veteran lawyer to a recruitment network operating along Kenya’s Coast, allegedly helping young people join extremist groups.
Detectives claim he operated several mobile phone numbers used to receive funds from Binance accounts suspected to be linked to local and international terror financing.
The case stems from the arrest of about ten young recruits earlier this year as they were allegedly preparing to leave Kenya.
Their detention, investigators say, exposed a broader network funneling radicalised youth from Kenya through Puntland in northern Somalia and eventually to Yemen — routes security agencies describe as key pathways for individuals seeking to link up with ISIS affiliates.
“It operates like a conveyor belt,” a senior ATPU officer said, outlining how suspects move from Kenya to Somalia before crossing into Yemen to join established ISIS cells.
Investigators further allege that Mwita, widely known for defending clients charged with terrorism offences, became entangled in the network while representing radicalised youths in court.
They claim he shifted from offering legal representation to actively facilitating their movements, with some of his legal fees allegedly paid by extremist financiers.
Prosecutor James Machirah presented the state’s case before Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage, while Mwita’s lawyers — Lempaa Soyinka and Ayota Magati — dismissed the allegations as an attempt to intimidate advocates who represent terror suspects.
They insist that defending accused persons does not make a lawyer complicit in their alleged crimes.
Mwita, who has spent more than a decade handling high-profile terrorism cases, now finds himself on the opposite side of the courtroom — facing the same type of accusations he has long challenged on behalf of others.
Should the court grant the ATPU’s request, he will be held at the Industrial Area Police Station as investigations continue. Authorities say more arrests linked to the alleged recruitment ring and cryptocurrency-based financing syndicate are expected.
