Two women arrested for impersonating officers, extorting traders in Kakamega

The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) has arrested two women for allegedly impersonating law enforcement officers and extorting traders in Kakamega County.

The suspects who were apprehended on Friday, Ruth Kaimuri and Tabitha Kwena Wangeci, reportedly run a fraudulent private entity dubbed the Multi-Agency Works and Rights Enforcement.

The entity, according to EACC, introduces itself to the public as a law enforcement body which conducts 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.

The suspects are said to have 'arrested' a mini supermarket attendant based at Khayega Shopping Centre in Shinyalu Constituency and impounded goods which they said had not met the standards prescribed by law.

According to the commission, the pair purported to be based at Khayega Police Station and said they were part of the larger Kakamega County Multi-Agency Team that comprises various law enforcement agencies including the EACC, DCI, Police and the KRA.

EACC detectives in Bungoma nabbed the duo as they solicited a Ksh.50,000 bribe from the trader in order to return the said goods and were detained at Khayega Police Station pending arraignment on Monday.

Investigations by the commission would later reveal that the suspects had been running a series of crimes including confiscating goods from traders and demanding bribes ranging from Ksh.20,000 to Ksh.50,000 in order to release the goods back to them and forbear charging them in court.

EACC Head of Corporate Affairs and Communication Eric Ngumbi noted an upsurge in cases of fraudsters impersonating officials of the commission and other law enforcement agencies and extorting money from the public purporting that they are investigating them.

“It is sad and regrettable that many Kenyans have fallen prey to impersonators who have extorted huge amounts of money from them partly due to the readiness of the victims to bribe their way out of corruption allegations,” Ngumbi said.

He cautioned the public against falling prey to such fraudsters clarifying that, “Any person asking for a bribe in order to provide help by skewing investigations is not an EACC officer and should thus be reported for immediate arrest to be dealt with according to the law.”