Fake officer Waiganjo used police cars at will, court told
From left: Joshua Waiganjo, who is serving a jail term for impersonating a police officer, former Rift Valley police chief John M’Mbijiwe and former Anti-Stock Theft boss Michael Ngugi in a Nakuru court yesterday. Mr M’Mbijiwe and Mr Ngugi have been charged with abuse of office. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Witness says his boss assigned him to drive imposter.
Police impostor Joshua Waiganjo used government vehicles at the Rift Valley Provincial headquarters in Nakuru at will, a court heard yesterday.
Chief Inspector Stephen Komen, a former head of police transport, told Nakuru Senior Resident Magistrate Joe Mkutu Omido that Waiganjo frequently visited Rift Valley Provincial Police Officer John M’Mbijiwe dressed in the uniform of an Assistant Commissioner of Police or in civilian clothes.
He said Waiganjo always behaved like a policeman.
Waiganjo was arrested in 2013 and charged alongside Mr M’Mbijiwe and former Anti-Stock Theft Unit Commandant Michael Remi Ngugi.
Mr M’Mbijiwe and Mr Ngugi have denied abuse of office charges.
Mr Komen said at some time he was assigned to be Waiganjo’s driver.
In another incident, the court heard, Waiganjo was driven to the then Rift Valley provincial police headquarters in a Land Rover assigned to Njoro police division.
The Officer Commanding Njoro at the time was Mr Peter Njeru Nthiga.
“He ordered me to fuel the vehicle and I did so at a cost of Sh15,000,” said Mr Komen.
He said Waiganjo also used a government vehicle on October 9, 2012 to visit his children at a private school in Naivasha.
“I only learnt he was a fake policeman after I read about him in the newspapers,” said Mr Komen.
Questions on how Waiganjo acquired a police force number—556784—also arose as it is only issued to an officer on completion of training.
Constable Boniface Mathenge, who drove Waiganjo to a graduation ceremony in Londiani, Kericho County, to inspect a guard of honour by Kenya Forestry Service officers, told the court his bosses, Mr M’Mbijiwe and Mr Njeru, made him believe he was a senior officer.
Mr M’Mbijiwe is alleged to have ordered a “personal” file opened in Waiganjo’s name to pass him off as a police reservist on November 23, 2012.
He also allegedly allowed him to ride in a police helicopter during a sensitive security mission to Baragoi in Samburu on October 30, 2012 before the Suguta Valley massacre of 42 police officers.
Mr M’Mbijiwe also faces charges of ordering an officer under him to release two lorries to Waiganjo despite knowing he was not the owner of the vehicles.
Mr Ngugi is accused of allowing Waiganjo unlimited access and use of police vehicles in addition to allocating him a personal police driver, Corporal Joel Mopel.
He allegedly committed the offences between July and November, 2012, at the Anti-Stock Theft Unit headquarters in Gilgil.
The two are out on a Sh2 million bond each.
Waiganjo is serving a five-year jail term at Naivasha Maximum Prison after he was found guilty in October last year of illegally possessing government equipment and impersonating an Assistant Police Commissioner.
