When Mr. Joshua Karianjahi Waiganjo, a man suspected of masquerading as an assistant police commissioner in Nakuru, was arrested in 2013, the news shocked the entire country. Questions have been raised about how a civilian could infiltrate the inner circles of the police. police force.
Interestingly, even after appearing before three judges in Nakuru and Naivasha and three judges, his case has still not been settled.
POLICE CHOPEURS
Even more shocking are the revelations that Mr. Waiganjo passed off as a police officer for nearly a decade without being spotted, and who would have reached the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police.
His arrest sparked new, chilling revelations as people emerged to expose some of the bad things that Waiganjo allegedly committed as police officers in Njoro, Nakuru County.
These included the dismissal and transfer of officers, the use of police vehicles and the aerodrome.
He also reportedly participated in the planning of the botched cattle recovery mission in Baragoi, where 40 anti-stock policemen were slaughtered by cattle thieves.
Satisfied with the evidence provided by the police, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has laid several charges against Waiganjo.
He was indicted alongside senior police officials, including former Rift Valley Provincial Police Chief John M’Mbijiwe and the head of the anti-theft unit, Remi Ngugi.
The charges related to the abuse of power, the identity theft, the possession of government-owned stores, the alleged theft between July and November 2012.
The prosecution brought together at least 60 witnesses, including junior police officers who worked under Waiganjo, senior police officials, including former police commissioner Mathew Iteere, Waiganjo’s friends and the public.
The prosecution’s case since the initial appearance had prompted the public to believe that Wainganjo and his accomplices would certainly be welcomed with the full force of the law.
LIQUIDATION IEBC
More than five years later, Waiganjo, to the public’s dismay, remains a free man, with the various charges laid by the prosecution being crumbling rapidly.
The closest point by which the prosecution reached a conviction was in 2015 when the court found him guilty of illegally possessing government equipment and embodying a deputy police commissioner and sentenced to serve five years in the maximum prison of Naivasha.
The celebration of the PDP, however, was short-lived after the Naivasha High Court ordered the trial to be reviewed two years after his conviction.
Judge Christine Meoli, while rescinding the sentence, noted that Waiganjo had not been given a fair trial because crucial evidence had been omitted at the hearing.
He was later released on bail of 500,000 shillings and a bond of the same amount or bail of 200,000 shillings pending the hearing.
The order meant that Waiganjo would only remain a suspect.
To prove it, he then asked the Independent Electoral and Electoral Commission (IEBC) to run for the seat of the Njoro Parliament in the run-up to the 2017 elections.
IEBC President Wafula Chebukati responded to Waiganjo’s letter of authorization claiming that the Constitution did not prevent him from running, as his appeal remains to be determined.
Mr. Chebukati advised him to comply with various requirements before being placed on the list of candidates.
WEAKENING
In June 2017, a court in Nakuru acquitted Waiganjo of theft charges for lack of evidence.
Chief Justice Benard Mararo stated that the prosecution failed to prove that Waiganjo had stolen