Fake cop Joshua Waiganjo faces abuse of office charges

The Nakuru court has fixed a hearing date for a case against police impostor Joshua Waiganjo.

Waiganjo, alongside two former police bosses are facing charges of abuse of office.

Principle Magistrate Joe Omido slated the hearing date for February 22^nd, 2016.

Waiganjo is accused alongside former Rift Valley police boss John M’Mbijiwe and former anti-stock unit boss Remi Ngugi.

He is facing three accounts of impersonation while M’Mbijiwe and Ngugi are facing charges of abuse of office by handing Waiganjo official police vehicles.

On September 22nd, 2015, the court heard from former Njoro OCPD and current Mboni police boss Peter Nthiga how Waiganjo was protected by the two, in a process made him untouchable.

In October, Waiganjo was been sentenced to five years in jail by a Naivasha court after he was found guilty of impersonating a police officer.

The court convicted Waiganjo of five charges and acquitted him of a similar number in one a series of cases he is facing in different courts across the country.

Senior Resident Magistrate Shadrack Mwinzi noted that Waiganjo, who still insists that he is a police officer, had failed to prove his recruitment into the police service.

In his ruling, the magistrate acquitted Waiganjo on two counts of robbery with violence after the complainants failed to testify in court.

Waiganjo will serve five years in jail for impersonating a police officer, one year for dressing in police uniform and six months each for three charges of being in possession of government stores.

The charges will run concurrently meaning that the accused will only serve the highest jail term of five years.

The magistrate said that it was the onus of Waiganjo to prove that he was a police officer.

He said that police officers have proven beyond reasonable doubt that Waiganjo impersonated an assistant commissioner of police.

Waiganjo was arrested about two years ago for masquerading as a top police officer for over 10 years.

He is alleged to have sacked and abused junior officers as well as attend top security meetings.

On January 4th, 2013, Waiganjo, was arrested after allegedly pretending to be an assistant commissioner of police for five years.

He was discovered after flying on a police helicopter to investigate the massacre of officers in Baragoi.

He was charged with two counts of impersonation and one count of illegally being in possession of police uniforms as well as one count of robbery with violence.

The National Police Service Commission (NPSC) then suspended top Rift Valley cops over the saga.

The then Rift Valley PPO John M’mbijiwe was among those axed. The PPO had been photographed several times with Waiganjo.

However, Waiganjo’s father, Bishop Waiganjo, had maintained that his son was a genuine police officer and had been in active duty with other senior officers.