By Timothy Mugo
Police with the help of CID officials have arrested a man who has been impersonating a police officer after his suspicious dealings were unearthed.
According to County Criminal Investigation officer Mr. Benedict Kigen, his office received information of somebody moving around the police station saying he was a police officer prompting him to follow up the matter.
“The suspect presented himself as being attached to Internal Affairs Unit at Vigilance house in Nairobi and was on sick leave,” Mr. Kigen said.
Mr. Kigen who worked as a Police Instructor for many years said he asked the suspect to prove his credentials as a police officer but was reluctant to do so.
“He had no letter to confirm anything he was saying and when I asked him for his recruitment certificate he failed to comply, raising more suspicion,” the county chief investigation officer narrated.
As he was being quizzed the alleged imposter gave out conflicting details to the police making it difficult to fully ascertain who he was.
“The said man said he hailed from Ogwedhi –Maasai but changed to Mawego in Rakwaro both in Migori County,” Mr. Kigen said.
The imposter also said he was a General Service Unit officer (GSU) working in Kuja but all this turned out to be falls as he gave out a National Identification number that belonged to a woman.
When the police raided his home at Police line within Migori town, they found him in possession of several police uniforms, Kenya army uniforms, handcuffs as well as three medals.
The alleged imposter, who was identified as Michael Okoth Odhiambo, was arrested on March 17 and arraigned in court on the following day.
According to court records, Mr. Odhiambo was charged on first account as he ‘falsely represented himself to be a public officer’ in November the year 2014.
On the second account, he was charged with “Giving false information to a person employed in the public service contrary to section 129 (a) of the penal code.
The court heard that Mr. Odhiambo informed Mr. Kigen that his service number was 9154. Mr. Kigen said the number belonged to a different officer in Nandi.
Mr. Odhiambo pleaded not guilty on all counts.
However, sources privy to the case hinted that the police officer had operated at Migori for close to three years and sometimes was spotted in court handling police case files.
A source who pleaded anonymity said the imposter had been working under the former Migori OCS Mr. John Waswa who is currently the OCS in Rongo. The fake cop continued under the new OCS, David Kariuki who took over from Waswa early last year until the CID finally busted him.
Mr. Kigen said he his office had sent the suspects fingerprint details to the registrar of persons’ office in Nairobi.
The alleged police imposter is remanded at Isebania Police station and will reappear in court on Thursday March 24, 2016.
