Fake prophets arrested in Thika

Three women and a man were nabbed by Thika county police as they tried to escape after they took Ksh 19,000 school fees from a student of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) alleging they had powers to make her prosper through prayer.

The student said that the conmen, who were in a vehicle, approached her at Juja where they asked for directions to a certain hospital.

The student obliged, but before she could show them, another woman whom she learned later was their accomplice, intervened saying that she had seen the prophets praying for people on family TV.

She persuaded the student to be prayed for by the powerful prophets for prosperity.

They then proceeded to ask the girl to enter into the vehicle to direct them to the hospital as they talked.

While in the vehicle, they told the student that the devil was against her and her family’s prosperity thus a need for special prayers.

They asked her whether she had some money that they could pray over, the girl who did not have money at the time, opted to withdraw money from her ATM.

They took her to an ATM at JKUAT where the girl unsuccessfully tried to withdraw cash.

They left JKUAT for Thika to try their luck at a Barclays bank branch where she withdrew the Ksh 19,000.

They exchanged the money with envelopes and tied them in tissue paper and handed the bundle back to her.

Just as they were leaving, the girl noticed what had transpired and let out a loud scream that attracted county council officers who were passing by.

The con prophets did not willfully cooperate with the police but were finally arrested and taken to Thika police station.

The gang is alleged to have been operating from Ruiru and Thika area.

The conmen have mastered this art and keep reinventing ways of conning those who fall prey.

Area residents claim they are well known by the police but they always buy their freedom.

By Elainer Mogoa