Rift Valley PPO John M’Mbijiwe and Anti Stock Theft Unit boss Remi Ngugi and Njoro Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) Njeru Nthiga have been interdicted over the fake police officer saga.
National Police Service Commission chair Johnstone Kavuludi told the press Tuesday morning that the team will probe among other things an incident where Joshua Kirianjahi Waiganjo pretended to be an Assistant Commissioner of Police and attended security meetings with high ranking officers.
Kavuludi said that the commission needs 21 days to complete investigations. He promised thorough police audit to weed out ghost and unwarranted officers.
Mr M’Mbijiwe has been replaced by Levine Mwandi, a deputy commissioner of police.
Mr Ngugi’s deputy Solomon Makau takes over as ASTU boss while Mr Nthiga has been replaced by Esau Ochorokodi.
The team appointed by President Mwai Kibaki over the weekend and has 10 days to submit its findings on how Waiganjo managed to operate for five years as a fake Deputy PPO.
President Kibaki who ordered the probe said the incident was of vital concern to the government and stressed that no cover-ups or blame games will be tolerated.
The scandal has exposed the rot in the police force, with senior police officers issuing contradictory statements about Waiganjo’s activities.
Police spokesman Erick Kiraithe says Waiganjo’s service ended in 2003 while now former Rift Valley Police boss John M’Mbijiwe says the alleged imposter was the head of KPR in Rift Valley until his arrest last week.
The probe team is expected to find out among other things when Waigango started impersonating as a policeman, under whose instructions he was working and who facilitated his payment but but his family maintains that he was appointed to the position by former police commissioner Mathew Iteere.
The team is also mandated establish where and how he acquired equipment. The team will also report on resources accessed and breached by the police reservist, and the magnitude of the scam.
Meanwhile, Police in Garissa have launched investigations following Monday nights attack on a n police vehicle in patrol in Garissa Ndogo suburb of Garissa town.
The incident which took place at around 7:20pm left six administration police officers injured by gun and grenade attacks.
According to one of the injured police officer admitted at the Garissa provincial hospital Geoffrey Lekiloi two grenades were lobbed on the vehicle which destabilized its movement.
“We had just left Garissa town and upon nearing the chiefs camp police post as a group of about ten people in a thicket flashed lights on our vehicle, they proceeded to lob a grenade and immediately followed it with gun shots, we swiftly reacted and a shootout ensued, but some of our officers were already injured,” said lekiloi who has served the force for two years.
He added: “following the exchange of firearms we empowered them and they disappeared to unknown destination,”.
During the shootout a pedestrian was killed and a woman who was in a nearby kiosk was also hit on the left shoulder by a stray bullet
Garissa Police boss George Losku said that investigations were on following the incident and added that there was a controversy following the killing of the man.
“As for now we cannot tell whether the slain man was a mistaken identity or was killed by a stray bullet but we have launched thorough investigations to unravel the mystery,” said Losku.
Following the incident six police officers were hospitalized with gun and grenade wounds. Four of them were treated and discharged while two are still nursing their injuries.
The OCPD said that one of the police officers who had shrapnel’s lobbed in his stomach was set to be airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment.
The incident targeting security officers is the first in this year.
Late last year three people were killed in Garissa town by unknown assailants. No arrest has been made in relation to the incident.
