Charges Dropped Against Canadian Stranded in Kenya for 3 Months

by Rob Walker | August 14, 2009 at 06:20 am

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Charges have been dropped against a 31-year-old Canadian woman stranded in Kenya after officials accused her of faking her identity.

After 3 months being stuck in Kena, paying bail and an uproar back in Canada, Suaad Hagi Mohamud was cleared to fly back to Toronto on Friday.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said her ordeal would face a probe and asked for a full accounting of how the Canada Border Services Agency handled the case.

Mohamud went to the Canadian embassy in Kenya, and was told her identification did not look like her. The embassy then agreed charges should be brought against her. It was only after a DNA test earlier this week proved her identity that she heard she may be able to return to Canada.

After a chaotic hearing this morning, where the 31-year-old single mother was bounced between court rooms and her file appeared lost at one point, prosecutor Paul Mwangangi said the government did not want to pursue the case.

"I think our officials and agencies are working hard to resolve what is not an easy case," Harper added.
He declined to speak about the specifics of the case but acknowledged there were problems.

"My understanding is there were a lot of complications in this case, some of which you're aware of in the media," he said.