Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) arrested a 22-year-old musician in Sugoi, Uasin Gishu county, who was posing as Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to con Kenyans.
According to DCI, the musician, through his Facebook account with over 14,000 followers, asked Kenyans to donate an unknown amount of money to help those affected by drought across the country.
"The benga artist based in Kamplemur village in Sugoi was arrested after he created a fake Facebook account bearing the Deputy President's name and obtained money from unsuspecting citizens, allegedly meant for feeding Kenyans grappling with hunger," DCI stated.
From the account, the mischievous youth promised all those who contributed that they would be blessed abundantly for their generosity.
The young man had shared a Paybill number linked to a local bank to aid Kenyans contributing to the 'noble' course.
"Good evening Kenyans should we gather something for our fellow Kenyans suffering from drought? Let us come together and do a public Harambee for them it will assist them for some time be blessed so much as we support them," read the posts from the impersonator.
According to police reports, the suspect was arrested after a manhunt was launched by detectives attached to the Deputy President's office.
He had used photos of Gachagua in different state events to convince gullible Kenyans.
DCI also accused him of sharing the false news of former Kenya National Union of Teachers, secretary-general, Wilson Sossion, being appointed the new CEO of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) in November 2022.
Other than posts of the Deputy President in different public events, the young man as well posted his music videos, among other controversial posts.
In 2021, an individual impersonating First Lady Rachel Ruto defrauded women approximately Ksh1 million.
It was believed that the plan to con the unsuspecting women from Murang'a was coined by three men and a woman who went about the villages collecting Ksh630 registration fee.
