Fake Police Officer Sentenced to 40 Years in Jail

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has secured a 40-year prison sentence against a man who posed as a police officer. 

In a statement on Friday, November 13, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the accused, Victor Otieno, posed as an officer to terrorize families and orchestrate a series of violent house robberies in Malindi and Kilifi towns.

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Kilifi Law Courts Principal Magistrate Ivy Wasike handed Otieno the sentence after the prosecution successfully proved four counts of robbery with violence and one count of impersonating a police officer. 

“Victor Otieno was sentenced by Kilifi Law Courts Principal Magistrate Hon. Ivy D. Wasike after the prosecution, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Nancy Njeru, successfully proved four counts of robbery with violence and one count of impersonating a police officer,” the ODPP stated. 

During the trial, the prosecution presented nine witnesses who testified about how Otieno and an accomplice carried out a series of violent robberies between November 15, 2024, and March 26, 2025.

The court heard that the two posed as police officers on official duty, knocking on residential doors and using the pretense of conducting police operations to gain entry into homes.

“The pair would knock on residential doors, gain entry under the pretence of conducting police operations, then overpower occupants, hold them hostage at gunpoint and ransack their homes,” read the statement. 

The accused then made away with valuables, including mobile phones, laptops, television sets, gold chains, rings and PlayStation consoles and other valuables estimated at Ksh4 million.

one victim recounted how Otieno pointed a gun at her daughter, while another told the court how he was pushed around and threatened with death unless he cooperated.

Wasike in her judgement found that several victims had positively identified Otieno during identification parades, dismissing his claim that he had been mistakenly implicated.

She also rejected his alibi that he was in Migori attending his grandmother's burial, noting that he had neither called a witness nor produced a bus ticket or any other evidence to support his account.

Otieno’s claim that he was accidentally shot in the leg at Kilifi Bridge on March 26, 2025, while dropping a passenger was also dismissed.

The court found that police officers had laid an ambush following a reported robbery in Malindi, leading to his arrest.

“In sentencing, the magistrate considered a pre-sentence report and observed that the robberies were executed in a particularly heinous manner, leaving victims traumatized. Some victims were so distressed that they were reluctant to return to court to testify,” ODPP stated. 

Otieno was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on each of the four robbery with violence counts, with the sentences running concurrently. 

He received an additional 10 years for impersonating a police officer, to run consecutively, bringing his total prison term to 40 years.

The accused is also serving a separate 30-year prison sentence in a similar robbery with violence case before the Malindi Law Courts, following a plea bargain with the prosecution.

This comes days after the police have arrested a man posing as a police officer and extorting members of the public in Nairobi. 

In a statement on Thursday, November 5, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said the suspect, identified as Augustine Mjomba Mwadime, was arrested by officers from Jogoo Road Police Station at DC Stage following a tip-off from members of the public.

According to the investigative agency, Mwadime was allegedly posing as a law enforcement officer to intimidate and extort unsuspecting members of the public.

“The suspect, Augustine Mjomba Mwadime, was arrested by officers from Jogoo Road Police Station at DC Stage, following reports of a suspicious character extorting unsuspecting members of the public while masquerading as a law enforcement officer,” read the statement in part. 

After being confronted by police officers, the suspect introduced himself as Sergeant Augustine Mjomba Mwadime, claiming to be attached to the GSU Training School in Embakasi.

However, his claims raised suspicion, prompting officers to search him and expose his alleged impersonation scheme.

Officers recovered a forged certificate of appointment with a fake service number, a pair of handcuffs, and two keys believed to have been used to make his false identity appear legitimate.