For Rashid Mohamed, the nightmare did not end when his son vanished into the dark forests of Mozambique to join an extremist insurgency; it only mutated. Now, the Mombasa father sits in the shadow of a ticking clock, facing a tragedy that is both deeply personal and brutally bureaucratic.

With a High Court ruling hanging over his head like a sword, Rashid has until Thursday, December 11, to raise Sh1.5 million (approx. USD 11,500) or face six months in prison. His crime? Believing he could guarantee the attendance of a son who had already surrendered his soul to terror.

The Surety Trap

The saga began in June 2019, when Rashid’s son, Salim Mohamed Rashid—alias Chotara—was charged in a Mombasa court with membership in Al-Shabaab and possession of explosives. Desperate to keep his son out of remand and hoping to steer him back to the light, Rashid stood as surety.

He pledged two family vehicles as security for the Sh3 million bond, split between two sureties. It was a gamble on blood ties that Rashid would ultimately lose.

Court records indicate that Salim attended his hearings diligently at first. But on October 7, 2020, the chair in the dock stood empty. Salim had slipped the net, fleeing Kenya to join the Islamic State (IS) in Mozambique, where intelligence reports suggest he assumed a leadership role before moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

'No Body, No Proof'

The legal battle took a grim turn in July 2023, when the family received intelligence that Salim had been captured and sentenced to death in the DRC for the murder of a Congolese soldier. For a grieving father, this should have been the closure of a painful chapter.

However, the Kenyan justice system operates on evidence, not hearsay. In a ruling delivered on November 27, 2025, the High Court upheld a magistrate's earlier decision, noting that there was "nothing concrete" to prove Salim was dead.

• The Ruling: The court declared the bond forfeited due to the sureties' failure to produce the accused.
• The Cost: Rashid and his co-surety were ordered to pay Sh1.5 million each.
• The Consequence: Failure to pay by December 11 results in the auction of the security vehicles. If the proceeds fall short, the sureties face six months of civil imprisonment.

A Warning to Parents

This case serves as a chilling advisory to every Kenyan who signs a bond form. Legal analysts emphasize that a surety is not merely a character witness; they are a "jail substitute." If the accused runs, the surety pays—either in cash or in time.

For Rashid, the agony is twofold. He has lost a son to an ideology that destroys families, and now, the state demands he pay for that loss with his own livelihood. As the Thursday deadline looms, a father who tried to save his child finds himself needing saving.