Two people accused of impersonating journalists have been charged. Thomas Ochieng Owino and Fred Odanga Azelwa, who were first arrested on July 9th this year and released on a Ksh. 10,000 police bail were apprehended again on Friday, September 24, and arraigned at the Milimani Law courts for case hearing.
The two were arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) attached to Parliament Police Station.
According to the charge sheet, Ochieng and Odanga poised as journalists with the intent of gaining access to MPs offices at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
The prosecution charged the two with giving false information to a person employed in the public service contrary to Section 129(a) of the Penal Code.
According to court documents, the duo lied to James Maina Macharia, a media relations officer at the Senate, that they were members of the Media Council of Kenya.
The duo was charged for lying to Macharia with the intent of gaining access to KICC on July 9, 2021.
“At unknown date at an unknown place within Nairobi City County with intent to deceive, forged a certain media card purporting to be a media card from the Media Council of Kenya, the information you knew or believed to be false, intending to cause the said James Maina Macharia to allow you enter the premises of Kenyatta International Convention Centre which ought not to have done,” the charge sheet read in part.
The duo was released on a bond of Ksh. 100,000 or an alternative cash bail of Ksh. 50,000 each.
Cases of people impersonating journalists have been on the rise with the Media Council of Kenya warning Kenyans to be careful and report incidents where journalists cannot show prove of working at their respective media houses.