Prison warder arrested for impersonating IG Joseph Boinnet

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet. PHOTO: FILE

KISUMU: Two people including a prison warder were arrested Kisumu Friday for colluding with inmates to impersonate the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and several other high profile personalities in Kenya.

The duo who are being held at the Central police station in Kisumu were arrested following a tip off from members of the public that the warder had been impersonating Boinnet in his twitter account.

The officers tracked down the handset used in the syndicate to the first suspect who led them to the prison warder.

"He told us that he had sold the phone to the warder and on further investigations we found out that the warder had given it to prisoners," said an office on condition of anonymity.

The revelation prompted a search at Kibos Prison where the officers unearthed 38 SIM cards registered under different names including Ombudsman Otiende Amollo and the former Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson Cyrus Oguna.

The SIM cards also had a till number from Safaricom and the officers suspect that they had been using it to con unsuspecting public.

"We are suspecting that they could be colluding with Safaricom employees to register the SIM cards as well acquire till numbers," said an officer on condition of anonymity.

He said that they were investigating if Safaricom employees were also involved in the syndicate.

The officer noted that the cards had distinctive marks on them and some were also registered to foreign names.

The officers also found the two suspects with 5 handsets, several rolls of bhang and cigarettes, phone chargers and also shs2000.

"We will charge the other inmates who were also found with other illegal items in court," said the officer adding that they are still pursuing two other suspects.