Police link impostor to Baragoi killings

Joshua Waiganjo for years posed as deputy PPO Rift Valley Province. (Courtesy/Standard)

By Moses Michira

KENYA: An internal secret investigation by high-ranking officers picked by retired Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere has concluded that the bungled Baragoi mission could have backfired following leakage by the impostor now in custody. 

Pointing fingers at Joshua Waiganjo who infiltrated police force with claims he was an Assistant Commissioner of police when he was in fact just a Standard Eight dropout, the team also questioned why a Nakuru bank manager was incorporated in a police flight to Baragoi before the bungled raid.

Led by a Senior Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of reforms, Mr Jonathan Kosgei, the team The Standard found out that the operation that led to killings of police officers and reservists was carried out against the advice of the police officers on the ground.

It also revealed how badly planned the doomed mission was, with no records kept either of the officers deployed or the manouvres they were required to engage in, and lacked even basic things like water, and when they were attacked, even the available helicopter wasn’t sent to their rescue.

Interestingly, the 132 officers and reservists had been forced to walk for 10 kilometres in a single-file, and having been told they were pursuing only 35 bandits when they were, in fact, 1000, they were ambushed inside a valley where the enemy had shooting advantage and massacred.

All that time, as they fought for dear life in Suguta Valley, with the new police officers having not been paid their September and October pay while almost all had no competence in field combat, their commander was killing time in his hotel room in Baragoi, the report says.

Initial draft by the committee appointed by Iteere, sources reveal, was initially edited to keep Waiganjo’s name off on what insiders called ‘orders from above’.

However, when the new Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo reported to office, he asked for full disclosure on the investigations and that is when the cover was reportedly blown off the faces of Waiganjo and a Nakuru bank manager who we cannot name at this stage for legal reasons.

Security meetings

“The conduct and the role of the alleged KPR (Kenya Police Reservist) commander – Mr Waiganjo “ACP” and...Nakuru Branch Manager to be thoroughly investigated particularly on suspicion of having betrayed the operation as they are reported to have attended various security meetings,” reads part of the report by Koskei’s team.

The committee found out Mr Waiganjo and the banker had attended several planning meetings in the build-up to the failed operation, raising the possibility that they were moles for the raiders planted to leak sensitive information that could help in the recovery of the stolen animals.

The possibility that Mr Waiganjo betrayed the security operation adds a new dimension to the web of cattle rustling which has led to thousands of fatalities among the security personel, and members of the Turkana and Samburu communities.

In the unfolding saga surrounding Waiganjo who is pictured variously in senior police uniform and rank, which was first exclusively reported by The Standard, last Friday, President Kibaki has ordered a ten-day probe even as local police officials deny colluding with or overlooking this gross violation of national security and professional code of conduct. 

A more worrying link to possible betrayal contained in the report is that the Provincial Police Officer John M’mbijiwe ignored counsel of his juniors, who are based in the hostile Baragoi District, about the launching the operation without sufficient preparation and arming.

Recent claims have been made that Waiganjo could have been a dangerous criminal involved in robberies and extortion in several places, possible crimes for which he is now facing charges in court. The latest claims further reinforce the fears that he may have been an informer promoting the fraudulent cattle trade.

The damaging report points out loopholes in the planning of the operation to recover over 500 cattle stolen by the warriors from the Samburu, including relying on a Turkana moran in execution, and was likely to have misinformed the police.

“Planning of the operation was dependant on a Turkana tribesman whom under normal circumstances cannot divulge any information concerning his fellow Turkanas,” the report read further.

Bad terrain

The district police bosses were opposed to the operation, saying the officers involved were too few, considering that the raiders were ‘over 1,000’ and that they had the advantage of knowing the terrain better.

The senior officers at Baragoi said they knew about the number of raiders and their firepower because two operations they had led in trying to recover the lost animals had failed as the officers were overpowered and repulsed.

It was puzzling for the committee that the operation commander, who was opposed the operation from the start, did not go to the battleground even when he was mandated to lead the recovery mission.

The report cites the opposition from the commander and the Samburu County intelligence officers had contributed to the poor planning of the operation, as there was no prior study of the terrain to determine the scope of the duty.

“The operation commander appears to have had no role as he remained in his hotel room in Baragoi town as the four sectors proceeded to the battle ground.”

In what seems to confirm his involvement as a mole, Mr Waiganjo who had introduced himself as the commander for the Anti-Stock theft Unit in the Rift Valley did not attend the early morning recovery mission that ended horribly.

About 107 police officers were sent on the mission that started at about 1am, but were dropped more than 10 kilometres from the battlefront in Lomelok village, owing to poor road network. It is also regrettable that several security meetings were held in Baragoi, but no minutes were taken, Kosgei’s team added. 

“It also appears that the Provincial Security Intelligence Committee left the entire problem solving to the PPO and the Provincial Criminal Investigations Officers as no mention has been sighted on the Provincial Commissioner and the regional National Intelligence Service Coordinator having attended any meeting in Baragoi even after the incident,’’ the report went on.