Hunt launched for police impostor threatening opposition leaders

A hunt has been launched on a police impostor using a fake Facebook account who as issued death threats to opposition leaders.

The impostor using the name Kipchirchir Alfie has been posting offensive messages on his account.

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said the man is not a policeman as he claims on his Facebook account.

“He claims to be a police officer but he is not. We are looking for him and we urge anyone who knows him to help us know where he is,” said Boinnet.

On his Facebook profile, Kipchirchir has put a picture of a police chopper and photos of a pilot who died in 2012 Ngong forest plane crash that claimed the life of former minister George Saitoti.

He also claims to be a field commander at the Kenya Police Training College in Kiganjo and worked at Presidential Escort Unit and that he went to Meteitei High School in Nandi County.

A team has been formed to search for him and was Monday pursuing leads on his whereabouts.

“He seems to have been on Facebook since last March and we hope to get him soon,” said one of the officers.

The latest offensive posting he made was directed at Mombasa County Governor Hassan Joho and his Kilifi counterpart Amason Kingi.

He had in December made offensive comments on MPs Mohamed Junet and Millie Odhiambo. Police never took action then, despite outcry on social media.

In the postings, he posts a pistol and bullets to indicate he is armed. He threatened to kill the leaders for opposing the government.

He had also threatened Cord leader Raila Odinga. Security pundits fear a stranger may harm any of the leaders and later blame the police for failing to take action in time.

“Now that they have taken away security for the governors and the man is threatening them anything can happen and if it happens the buck stops at police authorities,” said one officer aware of the probe.

Many Kenyans have been pushing for action on the man accusing police of bias in their probe.