This archive report was first published on 19 May 2021.
On May 18, 2021, a dramatic scene unfolded at the Bomet law courts when police opened fire on a car in an attempt to apprehend a suspected impersonator.
Benjamin Rono, a man who had been posing as a lawyer, had appeared before Resident Magistrate Maureen Aduke to represent a client in a defilement case.
However, the court administrators had been informed about Rono's legitimacy, and he was questioned about his credentials before being allowed to proceed.
As he was being whisked away to the office, Rono sensed that the investigating officers were after him and made a run for it, entering his car and speeding off.
Police were forced to fire a live bullet at the car's tyre to stop it, and Rono was later arrested and detained at the cells in the court before being transferred to Chebunyo police station.
He is now facing charges of impersonation, a crime that has been on the rise in Kenya, according to the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).
Bomet county LSK chair Kadet Kiprono warned individuals impersonating lawyers, saying their days are numbered.
"We want to ask our people to be careful and check first from the LSK website or in our office to confirm if the person they want to deal with as their lawyer is a genuine one so that they don’t lose money to impersonators," Kiprono said.
