Two Facebook accounts, this and this, bearing the name of Deputy Inspector-General (DIG) of the Kenya Police Service and a Commissioner at the National Police Service Commission Douglas Kanja Kirocho, are fake.
The first account, which has 2,600 friends, has Kanja’s picture as the profile photo and has few public posts. The account indicates that the owner is a “senior administrator at the public service” and a commandant at the General Service Unit (GSU).
The second account, which has a flurry of activities, including sharing posts by the National Police Service, has over 4,900 friends.
An investigation by Business Today has found that the two accounts are neither owned nor operated by Kanja.
In a statement on September 1, 2023, the National Police Service announced that the accounts are operated by imposters intending to defraud the public.
“We wish to caution the general public against interacting with the multiple fake accounts purporting to belong to the Deputy Inspector General-Kenya Police Service, Mr Douglas Kanja,” the statement read in part.
According to the statement by the National Police Service, Kanja does not operate any social media account.
“The existing accounts are maintained by imposters with criminal intent to defraud unsuspecting Kenyans. Please note that DIG-KPS does not operate any social media account,” the statement added.
The National Police Service listed three other accounts impersonating Kanja, warning the public against interacting with them.
Prior to his appointment as a DIG, Kanja served as commandant of the General Service Unit (GSU) since 2018.
He has also held other different positions, including as the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Commandant of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), and the Director of Operations at the National Police Service (NPS).
“These fake accounts go against Facebook Community Standards,” the police added.
These Facebook accounts operating under Douglas Kanja’s name are, therefore, not operated, owned, or affiliated with the DIG.
This fact check was published by Business Today with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and African Fact-Checking Alliance.
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