State seeks orders to deport Briton linked to 'White Widow'

Germaine Grant at the Shanzu Law Courts, Mombasa, in 2018. [File, Standard]

The state is seeking orders to repatriate convict Germain John Grant to Britain once he completes his sentence.

Grant was convicted for four years in 2019 after he was found guilty of possession of explosives-making materials. He is expected to complete time in prison anytime this month.

He was accused with Samantha Lewthwaite alias the "White Widow," the world's most wanted woman, who escaped the police dragnet in Mombasa in 2011.

She was linked to the Al-Shabaab terror attack on Westgate shopping mall, Nairobi, where more than 70 people died including five Britons.

Grant was not convicted on terror charges but was found guilty of forgery and possession of explosive-making material. He has been serving the sentence at Kamiti Maximum Prison.

On Saturday, State Counsel Benard Ngiri of the Office of Director of Public Prosecution presented the application before Justice Anne Onginjo seeking orders to deport Grant to Britain.

In the application, Ngiri said the magistrate court failed to issue orders to enable the state to repatriate Grant once he completes his sentence in Kenya.

"It is proposed to this court to make an order (s)that the learned magistrate ought to have made orders under Section 26A of the Panel code," states the application.

The DPP says that under the said section of the penal code, Grant can be removed from Kenya upon completion of his sentence or imprisonment.

Ngiri argued that the magistrate should have recommended or ordered the Cabinet Secretary responsible for immigration to remove Grant from Kenya to his homeland following the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.

The application was not heard because neither the convict nor his advocate appeared before the court.

Yesterday, Justice Ong'injo directed the prosecutions to follow up and know why Grant was not produced in court and report to her on July 19, when hearing of the application will start.

Ong'injo made the request to the DPP after lawyer Chaacha Mwita who represented Grant during trial told the court that he was yet to receive instructions to represent him on the matter.