The Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs (PCS-MFDA) Sunday confirmed the arrest of several high-ranking officials within the ministry following a crackdown.
Salim Swaleh, who serves as the Director of the Press service at the Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary (OPCS) was among those arrested for alleged involvement in corruption activities.
“Those arrested include Salim Swaleh, Director of OPCS Press Service, in whose office the swindlers were found nested with fake door switch-nametags,” read a statement from the ministry.
The ministry said the arrests followed a tipoff that alerted OPCS-MFDA security, who then mounted intense surveillance at the OPCS-MFDA Railways Office to disrupt the reported nefarious acts of impersonation and misuse of the facility by the fraudsters.
Security officials tracked a group masquerading as visitors.
They would individually gain entrance into the Railways Building where Mudavadi’s office is located, on different dates and times by falsifying their identities (as VIP guests or government officers), and the officers they purported to be visiting.
The victims were mainly foreigners who would be shepherded into the Railways Building ostensibly to meet high-ranking government officers for favours in exchange for bribes, the statement said.
The secretary strategic communication at the ministry Peter Warutere said OPCS-MFDA is a central player in Whole-of-Government delivery of the anti-corruption policy, given its fulcrum as Kenya’s international image maker.
He said a cabal of fraudsters and government officers who facilitated their operations at OPCS-MFDA at Kenya Railways building were arrested Saturday June 22, 2024.
“Further investigations by relevant law enforcement agencies are ongoing to track and arrest other conspirators who may have been involved.”
“The arrests followed a tipoff that alerted OPCS-MFDA security, who then mounted intense surveillance at the OPCS-MFDA Railways Office to disrupt the reported nefarious acts of impersonation and misuse of the facility by the fraudsters,” he said.
Warutere said the surveillance involved tracking a group masquerading as visitors. “They would individually gain entrance into the Railways Building on different dates and times by falsifying their identities (as VIP guests or Government Officers), and the officers they purported to be visiting.”
“Their victims were mainly foreigners who would be shepherded into the Railways Building ostensibly to meet high ranking Government officers for favours in exchange of bribes,” he added.
The surveillance was able to also track and identify their co-conspirators, among
them Government officers who facilitated their dastardly activities.
Those arrested
He said the swindlers were found nested in Swalleh’s office with fake door switch-nametags.
“Apparently, Government officers arrested had perfected “renting” office space to criminals by either vacating their offices for the fraudsters use, or deceptively misrepresenting themselves.”
“This deception also meant switching legitimate name tags with fake ones on office doors to advance the scams,” he said.
He added the group had the audacity of attempting to bribe their way out.
“As deterrence, government institutions are hereby cautioned to vet and oust disreputable government officers abetting such criminal activity which appears pervasive due to lax securing of government institutions and a growing appetite for quick money by public officers.”
Those arrested were detained ahead of arraignment on Monday, police said.
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