A man accused of impersonating an Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) officer in an attempt to blackmail and extort Ksh100,000 from Senate Speaker, Ken Lusaka, has been charged.
Victor Mayanja alias Joseph Kinuthia, who was arraigned on Monday, August 30, was arrested over the weekend as he reportedly sought to collect the money from the former Bungoma Governor at a city hotel.
The accused was grilled over threatening the Speaker with an exposé on graft and embezzlement of funds and tarnishing his name and reputation.
Mayanja faced three charges including presenting himself to Lusaka as an investigator working with EACC on March 15, 2014.
The second charge was intending to forcefully extort Ksh100,000 from Lusaka in order to censor an alleged graft scandal against the Speaker.
Manyanja further presented himself to one Haron Keitany, a EACC detective at a city hotel on March 20, 2014.
The prosecution lined Lusaka as a witness in the case, where the suspect is accused of contravening Section 34 of the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Act No 3 of 2003.
Chief Magistrate Lawrence Mugambi, denied the prosecution's request to have the accused detained for a fortnight to allow detectives to conclude investigations.
The lead prosecutor also opposed bail arguing that the suspect would compromise investigation thus affecting the case.
The 14 days he requested would have been used to file a formal application listing several grounds for denying the accused bail.
Manyanja’s lawyer did not oppose nor consent to the prosecutor’s request. Nonetheless, Justice Mugambi directed the prosecution to detain Manyanja for seven days only and serve the defence with an affidavit within that period.
The EACC imposter was transferred to Industrial Area Remand Prison. The case will be mentioned on September 6.
