Written by
Faridah N Kulumba
Ayadin Harun, 55 year old, Turkish national was amongst five others who were scheduled to accompany Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto to Uganda on 2nd August 2021,where he was scheduled to meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni but were blocked by Kenyan officials.
Harun was part of the entourage in Ruto’s aborted trip to Uganda, including MPs Ndindi Nyoro of Kiharu, Oscar Sudi of Kapsaret, Benajmin Tayari of Kinango, Mombasa businessman David Kang’at. Elijah Rono and Eric Ruto. They were left to proceed but Ruto was denied the clearance on claims he needed to be cleared by authorities.
He was staying at a local hotel within the city where he has been staying since June 2021, when he arrived in Kenya. The immigration officials detained the Turkish national over the weekend on landing in Nairobi from Uganda where he had been since August 2.
He was taken to the Anti Terror Nairobi Offices for questioning regarding his immigration status, work permit and the business he was involved in Kenya. His detention was well known before his plane touched the ground in Nairobi as most of Ruto supporters seemed to know about it and shared it on different online media, Star Reported.
Who is Harun
Aydin Harun is a business man who runs a company known as Unit 2HA Investment Energy Africa Ltd and consultancy.
Investigations by K24 Digital revealed that Harun holds passport number U20470175 and was issued a working permit by the Department of Immigration Services in Kenya on June 30, 2021 and it was supposed to expire on June 29, 2023.
According to K24 Digital investigations, for one to get such a vital document they need to part with their personal information and also pay for the services.
Also the Turkish Embassy in Nairobi issued a statement to local media that Harun was a legitimate businessman, and law abiding citizen who does not have any criminal record.
But why was Harun arrested?
The Kenyan government branded the Turkish national a terror suspect whose presence in the country was under interrogation.
After his arrest the official said they wanted to question him in regard to his immigration status, work permit and the business he is involved in the region, and that there was information they wanted to clarify from him.
But K24 Digital based the incident of Haruna’s detention with him sharing a name with a certain Turkish national who is serving a jail term in a German prison but said they are not in any way related.
They clarified that the prisoner in Germany was nabbed after he was linked to terror activities and is currently aged 49 while Haruna linked to Tuto is aged 55 and has never been arrested.
The inmate was accused of leading a group of Islamic Associations and Communities which was even linked to Al Qaeda former leader Osama Bin Laden.
The group was accused of having plans to overthrow the Turkish Government. However lawyer Cliff Ombeta said the State has been sponsoring stories of Turkish businessmen in the papers with the aim of linking Ruto with crime or something for political interest.
The deportation
After spending two nights in custody, Harun was deported from Kenya and the news was confirmed by his lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi. “We will fight the deportation and he will come back either this year or next year. He is not a terrorist,” Abdullahi said.
Deputy Ruto through social media expressed his anger over how a foreigner associate linked to him was treated by the government, and he said that he apologised to Harun.
“Just talked and apologised on behalf of GoK to Aydin Harun, now in Turkey, who was politically arrested, tortured & falsely profiled as a “terrorist” but later asked to fly out not to ashame those involved. Political pettiness is expensive/dangerous & will destroy our economy. SHAME,” Ruto said.
