A Nairobi court has granted the prosecution an additional three days to complete investigations into a suspect accused of using the mobile phone of former Central Police Station OCS Samson Kiprotich Taalam to defraud his family members and lawyer.
The suspect, Kiprotich Ronoh Brian, has been held in police custody for the past seven days following an earlier court order allowing investigators more time to probe allegations of unauthorized communication.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Ronoh is under investigation for unauthorized interception of communication, identity theft, and involvement in organized crime.
The case stems from a complaint filed with the DCI on June 19, 2025, by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which reported suspicious activity involving mobile phone numbers belonging to the former OCS. The phones in question had been seized by IPOA as part of an ongoing forensic audit.
Taalam, who is currently under investigation himself, reported that while his phone was in IPOA custody, it was being used to solicit money from the public, including his own relatives and legal representatives.
๐๐ข๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ช, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฉ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ถ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฆ
Prosecutors claim that Ronoh illegally swapped Taalamโs SIM card and used it to impersonate the former officer, orchestrating fraudulent schemes under his name.
The DCI argued that releasing the suspect at this stage would compromise ongoing investigations, suggesting he might tamper with evidence or intimidate witnesses.
While the prosecution requested a further seven-day extension to retrieve Taalamโs call data from mobile service provider Safaricom, Senior Magistrate Carolyne Mugo declined to grant the full request. She noted that the investigators had already been given a week and failed to justify how Ronoh’s continued detention would directly assist in retrieving the call data.
Instead, the magistrate allowed only a three-day extension and warned that if investigations are not concluded within that period, the court will proceed to consider bail for the suspect.
The matter is scheduled for mention on July 31, 2025.
