By PETER OCHIENG and KEVIN TUNOI
Immigration officers in Eldoret arrested three people among them two athletes after they attempted to allegedly acquire travel documents by false pretence.
The officers nabbed the three after documents they had presented were found to be falsified.
One, whose original passport revealed he had travelled widely, had presented a forged birth certificate bearing the names Abdul Kimutai Aazim with the intention of acquiring another passport.
He had also allegedly falsely presented two copies of national identification cards with the names Jane Chepkemoi Kirui and John Kipkemoi Kirui claiming to belong to his parents.
The other athlete was found in possession of two identification cards both bearing identical identification numbers.
The ID cards that bore the same passport size photograph, however, had details including the date of birth, serial numbers, place of birth and issue adulterated.
However, the third suspect denied being part of the deal stating that he had been called by one of his accomplices who used to be his neighbour.
“I presented myself here after receiving a call from my former neighbour who asked me to meet him at the Immigration offices. I obliged only to be arrested alongside them,” he said.
Adopting new names
Chief Immigration Officer North Rift Fred Ogeto said his officers became suspicious after a person who had been listed as a father on the passport application forms denied knowing one of the suspects after he was called on his mobile phone. “This is a very shocking revelation that locals have become crafty yet we have been keen on perusing documents presented by foreigners,” noted Mr Ogeto.
He said some criminals were adopting Islamic names, which had tarnished the religion after the bearers of the names were nabbed while engaging in criminal activities.
This, he said, had stereotyped Muslims.
The officers then conducted a body search on the suspects and found forged documents consisting of ID cards and various other documents belonging to different people.
“It seems these athletes had falsified information on their documents such as the dates of birth to allow them to participate in junior international competitions,” he said.
Ogeto, who was in the company of other immigration officers, stated that the arrest of the suspects was likely to unearth a syndicate where unscrupulous business people were forging vital documents like ID cards.
“We have forwarded the case to the police who will conduct investigation before the suspects are arraigned in court,” he added.
The officer explained that it was unlawful for any person to have more than one passport, adding that such an offence attracts a fine of Sh5 million or a jail term of five years.
