Licensed to extort: How ring fleecing business owners is protected by police chiefs

Bribery concept. [Courtesy/GettyImages] Have you encountered them or worse, fallen victim to them at any point between September 2023 and today? A network of criminals has been moving from town to town, masquerading as State officials and extorting millions of shillings from business owners. And in a shocking revelation, the daring criminals are backed by uniformed police officers. For years, they have operated in plain sight, conducting raids with the confidence of legitimate authority while collecting huge amounts of bribes. The question that continues to baffle many is simple: How does such a sophisticated, sinister operation of this nature thrive unless it is being enabled from the very top? What we have uncovered suggests that countless business owners across the country may have been defrauded by con artists protected by the very security personnel meant to safeguard them. It is a well-oiled script, coordinated, rehearsed, and deployed across the country and could easily emerge as one of Kenya's most brazen public scandals in recent years. The Standard can now reveal the existence of a syndicate that may have cost Kenyan businesses millions of shillings, operating with the shocking backing of senior police commanders and legitimised by mysterious Kenya Gazette notices whose origin remains unclear but has since been de-gazetted after much uproar. Private company At the heart of this scheme is Multi Works and Rights Enforcement Ltd, a private company that presents itself as a consumer rights and protection organisation but has, for years, allegedly impersonated multiple government regulators to loot, extort, and terrify businesses nationwide. Today, police warrants of arrest have been issued against several members of the syndicate, forcing some key culprits to go into hiding, with active cases against members of the group ongoing in Mombasa, Kakamega, Nairobi, among other towns. Some of hired goons enjoy police protection as they patroled Nairobi CBD during Gen Z protests. [File, Standard] The Standard has gathered evidence of Multi Works' operations across Nairobi, Kitui, Tala, Naivasha, Kirinyaga, Kakamega, Nyandarua, Kapsabet, Wote, Voi, Migori, Homa Bay, Mombasa, Bomet, Narok, Kitale and several other major towns. "It is a group of about 20 to 30 individuals who move from town to town, but the top ring has about 10 individuals. They drive in private vehicles, mostly what looks like taxis, carry fake badges, and because they are accompanied by uniformed police officers, most people have no reason to doubt them," said a private investigator who requested anonymity. Some of the government agencies they have impersonated at different times include the Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Communications Authority of Kenya, Competition Authority of Kenya, Anti-Counterfeit Authority, Music Copyright Society of Kenya Limited and the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, among others. State agencies What continues to puzzle everyone is how Multi Works acquired Gazette Notices 7851 of 2023, 12014 of 2023 and 208 of 2024, giving them powers to purportedly engage in consumer protection with assistance from state agencies, police, and Director of Public Prosecutions. In Kenya, the power to initiate gazettement rests with specific State offices legally authorised to issue notices, regulations, or laws for publication. These include the President, Cabinet Secretaries, the Attorney-General, Parliament through the Clerk, County Governors and County Assemblies, and the Judiciary for judicial notices and practice directions. While these offices have the authority to cause a notice to be gazetted, the actual publication is done exclusively by the Government Printer, which serves as the official State publisher of the Kenya Gazette and only prints materials formally submitted by authorised public bodies. The Standard understands that the Gazette Notices have since been curiously cancelled through Kenya Gazette Notices, but the contents of what informed this are highly guarded secrets. The Standard is in possession of a letter from the Office of the Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Kenya Police Service, Eliud Lagat, dated November 29, 2023 and signed on his behalf by an officer named Caleb Wesa, addressed to all regional police commanders, issuing an order of movement notice to facilitate the questionable entity. "Multi Works and Rights Enforcement are requesting two uniformed officers on every assignment day from time to time at the respective ward levels. It is the wish of the DIG that you provide security as requested," states the letter. And it appears through this 'blessing' marching orders had been effectively issued and there was no turning back. The then Nairobi Regional Police Commander, George Sedah, communicated the same to all his sub-county commanders in a memo dated April 29, 2025, asking for full facilitation of Multi Works' activities despite several complaints that had already filtered into public spaces. The Office of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) under Mohammed Amin also trickled down the communication to all its directors and regional heads in a memo dated September 26, 2024. Ephantus runs a mini-supermarket at Ngara. Early this year in April at around 10 am, two men walked into the premises. They didn't introduce themselves but walked straight to the shelves posing as customers, behind them three fully armed uniformed police officers. "We didn't see anything peculiar at first until they came to the main reception flashing badges that said they were from the consumer protection unit of government. They brought forth some items and claimed they picked them from the shelves and that they were expired. "I am always very careful with my minimarket to ensure we check all the sell-by dates. To this date I suspect they planted the items that they came in with. They insisted they were ours and handed us over to the three uniformed officers they came with. They threatened to take us to Pangani Police Station if we didn't part with Sh100,000. We had no choice. If this is what was going to give us freedom, we had to," confesses Ephantus, who chose to only share his first name. At Patrick's hardware business along Kangundo Road, they have stormed the premises twice on separate occasions, in 2023 and again this year. Consumer protection "In 2023, they came - about three men - and claimed to come from the consumer protection unit and Kebs. They went straight to the section where we sell paints. They picked some samples and said they were expired and didn't have valid batch numbers," says Patrick. "They stuffed the paints into the back of a car they had come with and insisted that one of my staffers comes with them to the station. The value of the paint was about Sh30,000 and on top of that they demanded a further Sh30,000 from us, which we had to part with. You couldn't doubt them as they had come accompanied by officers," says Patrick. Patrick says the second time they came early this year, they pulled an almost similar script and this time arrested one of his employees, a young woman. "They arrested the young lady and took her to Malaa Police Station. It is until we notified a KEBS official that we secured her release. This time around we did not part with a shilling, thankfully," observes Patrick. In October this year, the Bar, Hotels and Liquor Traders Association Secretary-General Boniface Gachoka wrote to the Inspector-General of Police, Douglas Kanja, complaining about the group's incessant extortion activities. Seizing goods "The group has been conducting unauthorised inspections, seizing goods in bars and entertainment spots and also demanding on-the-spot fines and bribes ranging from Sh10,000 to Sh50,000 per outlet or more," states Gachoka. To fully understand who Multi Works is and the web of their criminal operations, we need to trace their origins back several years. Multi Works and Rights Enforcement Company Limited was officially registered on August 7, 2023, by the Registrar of Companies. Originally, it was called Talent Works and Rights Enforcement Limited, a name later changed following approval by the registrar. Independent investigations by The Standard reveal that the original entity - Talent Works and Rights Enforcement Limited - was established on March 8, 2005, by the late Prechard Pouka Olang, a popular Kenyan rapper going by the stage name Poxi Presha, who branded it as an organisation to champion music copyright issues. It is from this original framework that the present-day Multi Works and Rights Enforcement Ltd emerged, now led by Edward Olang, Poxi Presha's brother, continuing operations under a new guise but allegedly carrying forward the same questionable and aggressive methods. Alongside Olang, who is listed as Multi Works director and shareholder, others include: Mercy Winja, Tom George Odhiambo Tito, Tito Onyango Deniston, Priscillah Njeri Mwangi, the estate of the late Prechard Pouka Olang, Robert Mwangi Kuria, and Strategic Registrars. The ringleaders under active investigation include Edward Olang, Wycliffe Nyamanya (wanted on a warrant of arrest), Nehemiah Nyaga Wacira (convicted), Tabitha Kwena, Ruth Kaimuri, Alphonce Mutuku, Joseph Mathenge and Georgina Mugi. In October 2024, when reports started circulating in public spaces about the illegal activities of Multi Works armed with a Gazette Notice, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) swung into action. EACC wrote to the Attorney-General seeking an opinion on the existence of Multi Works. Police officers inspecting suspected counterfeit alcohol in Eldoret. [File, Standard] In her response, AG Dorcas Oduor analysed documents presented, including a letter from KEBS Managing Director Esther Ngari, and directed that the Gazette Notices that gave powers to Multi Works' activities be investigated by relevant government ministries and agencies to establish whether they were genuine or not. AG Oduor tasked the Cabinet Secretaries for National Treasury and Trade to explain how the purported Gazette Notices issued to Multi Works came into existence. The AG wrote: "Under the Public Private Partnership Act, section 1 does not allocate any mandate to any person or institution. Multi Works has applied the Gazette Notice wrongly..." Earlier in 2024, following public outcry, different government institutions issued public notices published in local dailies, warning the public to be wary of Multi Works. The bodies included CAK, ACA, and KEBS. KEBS averred: "The continued operation of this entity is at cross-purpose with the statutory and regulatory functions legally reserved for KEBS under the Standards Act, and also tarnishes the name of KEBS apart from endangering the lives of KEBS officials." "KEBS urges all business operators and members of the public to remain vigilant."And when the pressure reached fever pitch, on February 5, 2025, IG Kanja issued a police signal directing immediate disengagement with Multi Works, citing complaints by KEBS. "Any representatives of Multi Works found engaging in any activities that are in breach of the law should be arrested and charged accordingly." "The Service dissociates itself from the activities of the company and any commander or officer who is found engaging with the company shall be dealt with in accordance with the Service regulations." The Standard can, however, reveal that despite the police signal - which ideally reaches every station and police post in the country - Multi Works continued with their extortion rings up to as late as a few days ago, this month. "On November 13, they terrorised parts of Athi River; a week before, on November 7, they were in Kitale Town; and a week before that in Gigiri. You wonder, is this left to thrive by design or a break of the police command structure?" wondered a private investigator. Records show that even after the IG's directive, Multi Works continued with extortion in other areas such as Kerugoya, Bomet, Narok, Hola, Ruiru, Mombasa, Migori and other towns. Kiminini lawmaker Maurice Bissau recently threatened to take the matter to the floor of Parliament after a spate of extortion schemes in Kitale and other parts of Trans Nzoia County. "It is baffling that our people are being extorted with clear assistance from police officers. This must stop. They have lost so much already," stated Bissau.

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