A witness told a Mombasa Court on Thursday that a Mombasa businessman charged with being in possession of Sh44 million ivory hired his vehicle to transport household items.
Kassim Hassan, a witness told the court that he met with the accused, Feisal Mohamed Ali at a petrol station after asking for a vehicle to move some household items to another house in Tudor.
The accused however declined to use Mr Hassan’s vehicle since it was open saying it was not appropriate to transport his items.
“He gave me Sh300 after he refused to use my vehicle since it had an open body and we parted ways,” said Hassan.
Another witness, Abdul Razak Abdalla told Principal Magistrate Diana Mochache that the accused hired his vehicle which was closed.
Mr Abdalla said he had no issues giving Feisal his vehicle since he had known him for more than six months since they met at Baluchi Mosque.
“I frequently met the accused at the mosque. He hired my vehicle for two days and I gave him at a fee of Sh4,000 per day,” he said.
Abdalla further said that the accused disappeared for days after hiring his vehicle but he kept calling him to assure him that his vehicle was safe.
The court heard that the accused disappeared after using the vehicle and stopped coming to the mosque where the two met.
Mohamed and four others are being accused of allegedly being found in possession of 2,152 kilogrammes of ivory worth Sh44 million on June 5 in Tudor, Mombasa County.
He was charged alongside Ghalib Sadiq Kara, Abdul Halim Sadiq, Pravez Noor Mohamed and Abdulmajeed Ibrahim.