Imposter PPO was a tout

Joshua Karanjahi Waiganjo for years impersonated an assistant commissioner of police in Rift Valley. (Photo:Anthony Gitoga/Standard )

 

By Antony Gitonga                       

NAIVASHA, KENYA: The man said to have conned police officer across Rift Valley that he was an assistant police commissioner of police was once a matatu conductor in Naivasha.

This came as the suspect Joshua Karanjahi Waiganjo who also posed as the Deputy PPO Rift Valley province was charged in a Naivasha court with four different counts.

And as the composed suspect was taken to court, fearful members of the public turned out to disclose how he fleeced them and sacked police officers at will.

Some of those interviewed in camera said that the middle-aged man came to Naivasha in 1997 from Timboroa where he was employed as a matatu conductor.

“He claimed to have been displaced by the election violence and he worked along the Nairobi-Naivasha road for some years,” said the witness.

Later he headed to Eldoret where he worked as a bodyguard for an influential transporter in the town before he was fired.

The witness said that they later came to learn that he had joined the police force and would be seen with senior police officers.

A Naivasha trader who also declined to be named said that he had met the accused several times as the Rift Valley Provincial headquarters where he ‘assisted’ many.

He said that the man would drive in police vehicles and sometimes would arrive in high powered meetings with senior police officers.

“All along we have known that he was a senior police officer and we are still trying to understand how he operated for over five years without been detected,” he said.

An officer from anti-stock theft unit told how the suspect sacked one junior officer and ended up taking over his wife.

The officer said that the suspect could have compromised security issues due to the sensitive information on his hand.

Contacted on phone, Rift Valley PPO John M’bijiwe termed the accused as a conman whose time had come to an end.

“We have identified him as a conman and he shall be charged in court with various charges as investigation into the matter continues,” he said.

Earlier details had emerged that the suspect flew in a police chopper accompanied by senior officers to Suguta valley after over 40 police were killed.

Arraigned before Naivasha Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Boke, Waiganjo was charged with one count of robbery with violence.

He also faced two charges of impersonation and been in possession of assorted police uniform.

He was charged that on the 16th August 2012 in Kikopey, he and others not in court robbed one Mwangi Njoroge off his lorry and phone all valued at over Sh4m.

Waiganjo who was unrepresented faced two other charges of impersonation as a senior police officer in Anti-stock theft unit in Gilgil and in Njoro.

The last charge stated that on 1st January 2013 he was found in assorted police uniform in his homes in Njoro and Gilgil which he had unlawfully obtained.

The prosecution applied that he be detained at the Naivasha police station for one week as investigations continued.

The accused who denied all the four counts opposed the move saying that he should be detained at Naivasha G.K prison as he needed specialized medication.

The magistrate directed that he be held at the police station and that he should get proper medical care if need be.

The case will be heard on January 9, 2013.