Joshua Waiganjo arrested at a Kayole police roadblock

Police impostor Joshua Waiganjo was on Wednesday night (May 6) arrested for contravening 7pm to 5am curfew directive.

Waiganjo allegedly drove past a police roadblock at Komarock Junction despite being ordered to stop.

He nearly injured one of the police officers manning the barrier, said Kayole OCPD Wilson Kosgey.

Police claim that Waiganjo was also rude to the officers.

The suspect was among 24 persons arrested in Kayole for breaching the dusk-to-dawn curfew restriction.

They will be arraigned on Thursday, May 7, and, thereafter, quarantined at isolation facilities at their own cost, said Kosgey.

The trial of Waiganjo took a new twist in March 2019 after a Nakuru court suspended the ruling on whether he had a case to answer.

Waiganjo was charged alongside former Rift Valley Provincial Police boss John M’mbijiwe and former Anti-Stock Theft Unit boss Remi Ngugi, who are facing abuse of office charges.

Nakuru High Court judge Joel Ngugi on March 7, 2019 stayed proceedings in the trial court pending the hearing and determination of an application by the DPP.

The application filed in the court on March 6, 2019 sought to review the decision by Principal Magistrate Joe Omido to close the case without having the investigating officers testify.

Omido, who dismissed the request by the State to reopen the case, had directed that it be mentioned on March 7, 2019 for a ruling to determine whether Waiganjo had a case to answer.

Waiganjo and his co-accused, will know their fate on Friday, May 8.

A notice from Kwale Law Courts indicates that Principal Magistrate Joe Omido will deliver the ruling via video conferencing which will be set up between Kwale Law Courts where the magistrate is stationed and Nakuru Law Courts.

Omido handled the case while in Nakuru before he was transferred to Kwale.

“That being a criminal matter, the accused persons are required to be present in person at the Nakuru High Court Board Room for purposes of delivery of the ruling," read the notice dated May 4. It was copied to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and advocates representing the accused persons.

Prior to the 2019 legal trajectory, Waiganjo had, in June 2017, been released on bond by a Naivasha court after over four years in custody.

Naivasha Chief Magistrate Dominica Nyambu released him on a bond of Ksh500, 000 and a surety of the same or a cash bail of Ksh200, 000.

The move came a week after Waiganjo was charged afresh with five charges of impersonation and being in possession of police uniforms.

Waiganjo insisted he was innocent, saying “some individuals wanted to fix me for unknown reasons”.

"I have suffered in jail for over four years but am glad that I have been released on bond as this will give me a better chance to defend myself," he said.

Waiganjo had been charged that on the 28th of September 2012 he posed as an assistant commissioner of police.

He faced three other charges of being in possession of government stores contrarily to section 36 of the penal code.

The fifth charge stated that on the 8th June 2012 in Naivasha town, he was found wearing a police uniform with the rank of an assistant commissioner of police.