Mombasa: Two arrested for allegedly posing as KEBS officers to extort traders

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officers on Tuesday evening arrested two people in Bamburi, Mombasa County for allegedly posing as Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) officers to extort shopkeepers.

Tabitha Kwena and Wycliffe Nyamanya were accompanied by uniformed police officers, EACC said, inspecting goods in shops “and thereafter arresting, detaining and extorting shop owners alleging that they were selling expired goods.”

“They had reportedly duped the police into believing that they were genuine KEBS officers on official duty,” the graft watchdog said.

Kwena and Nyamanya reportedly labelled themselves consumer protection officers from a ‘Multi-Works and Rights Enforcement’ agency and demanded between Ksh.20,000 and Ksh.50,000 from the traders.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that the suspects have engaged in similar illegal activities in other parts of the country,” EACC said.

The duo was detained at Central Police Station Mombasa awaiting arraignment before the Mombasa Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday morning.

According to EACC, the agency introduces itself to the public as a body mandated with conducting criminal investigations, arrests, and inspection of stock in shops to verify compliance with standards and expiry dates, business operating licences, and tax compliance by traders.

They have even 'arrested' traders for noncompliance.