Police in Mombasa are holding a man they believe has been impersonating a senior General Service Unit (GSU) commander.
The man is said to have passed himself as a senior superintendent of police at the Mombasa police headquarters.
County Police Commander Johnstone Ipara divulged the information on Tuesday but maintained that the impostor did not actively engage in criminal activities within premises of police stations while using police property.
According to the commander, the individual engaged in his criminal agenda outside police areas and is even linked to the killing of an individual in the Likoni area while posing as an officer.
Ipara stated, "It is true we arrested an impostor after receiving information that he has been moving around passing himself off as a GSU officer. We are trying to find out how long this has been going on."
An inquiry by The Standard into how the man’s cover was blown had responses that were both conflicting and unclear.
In one account, the man’s cover was blown when a new commander posted at the Makupa Police Station encountered a junior officer assaulting a senior officer that he did not know.
One officer involved in the investigation informed, “The OCS questioned him, demanding to know his credentials.”
It was at that point, according to the officer, that, “The impostor told the OCS he was a GSU commander based at the headquarters near State House, but the OCS ordered his arrest instead.”
A source informed, "He led us to his house in Magongo, Changamwe, where we recovered police boots and attire," a source said.”
He was then booked and interrogated at the Makupa Police Station.
A different source indicated that the impostor was arrested at a hideout in Makupa by junior officers who thought he was their senior.
Other reports claimed that the individual had even been seen performing official police duties using police vehicles, a matter that Ipara denied.
A number of officers that participated in the recent police digital headcount said they had seen him in areas near Mombasa State House, a restricted area.
Antony Muriithi, the Mombasa Urban DCI, informed that the officer will remain in custody as his officers continue to gather evidence with diligence.
