Man Impersonating Rachel Ruto's Officer Arrested After Reporting Girlfriend's Ex For Stalking

He expressed that he was worried about his safety after he falsely claimed that a suspicious vehicle was trailing him

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Apr 2, 2024 - 21:12
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Man Impersonating Rachel Ruto's Officer Arrested After Reporting Girlfriend's Ex For Stalking
Rachel Ruto addressing delegates at KICC during the launch of the First Lady Mazingira Award on September 7, 2023. /OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

A 30-year-old man was on Tuesday, April 2 charged with impersonating a legal officer attached to the Office of the First Lady, Rachel Ruto after claiming that he was being stalked by her girlfriend's ex-husband.

Waziri Benson Masubo alias Benson Waziri Chacha was arrested on Thursday, March 21 after filing a report at the office of the Nairobi Regional Criminal Investigations Officer under the guise of the legal officer.

He expressed that he was worried about his safety after he falsely claimed that a suspicious vehicle was trailing him, a matter that prompted the Regional CIO to deploy detectives to investigate the claims.

An image of a courtroom in Kenya. /FILE

"Waziri Benson Masubo alias Benson Waziri Chacha, on the 21st day of March 2024, at the Office of Regional Criminal Investigations Officer Nairobi Area, within Nairobi County, reported that you are a legal officer attached to the office of her Excellency the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya and there was a motor vehicle trailing you registration number KCU **** make Toyota Passo with a view of harming you," reads official court documents on the same.

However, the detectives discovered that the impostor had cooked up the story to intimidate the former husband of his current girlfriend, who happened to own the aforesaid vehicle.

Moreover, it was revealed that Masubo wanted to use police officers to enhance the intimidation under the guise of settling personal scores, thus forcing the CIO to commence investigations which he would not have done had he been alerted of the falsehood of Masubo's report.

Nonetheless, Masubo was charged with providing false information to a public officer contrary to section 105(b) of the penal code. 

Under section 382(1) of the Penal Code any person who, with intent to defraud any person, falsely represents himself to be some other person, living or dead, is guilty of a misdemeanour. Under section 36 of the Penal Code, the general punishment for a misdemeanour is a maximum term of 2 years imprisonment with a fine or both. 

This is as cases of individuals posing as prominent individuals in Kenya have been on the rise for several months, this being the few times individuals have dared to impersonate individuals sitting in the highest seats in Kenya.

In January 2023, police arrested a 23-year-old after he impersonated Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's wife, Dorcas Rigathi and reportedly created 14 Facebook pages which he used to message Kenyans promising them loans ranging between Ksh1,000 and Ksh200,000, at a fee of Ksh700 and an extra Ksh2,500 as security.

The suspect was also reported to have hired his girlfriend who worked as a secretary to guide the interested individuals through the process of registering for the loans.

In Kenyan law, stalking is considered harassment and as such falls under domestic violence. Whether online or offline, stalking can also cause fear, constant worrying, and anxiety, and if it continues for a long time, it could trigger a mental illness.

President William Ruto, his wife Rachel, deputy president Rigathi Gachagua and his wife Dorcas pose for a photo in Karen on August 15, 2022. /FACEBOOK

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