A photo collage of Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and Collins Kipleting Serem The search for fame in today’s world can be an unending, dark pit.
This is the story of 22-year-old Collins Kipleting Serem alias Reng Star, a benga artist based in Kamplemur village in Sugoi, Uasin Gishu County, who was arrested by detective on December 18 for impersonating Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Facebook.
Detectives nabbed the suspect at Kipleting market as he wheeled his time away on a game of pool with his friends.
They had traced his phone to the village in Sugoi and established that he was a local artist.
They devised a cover story to lure him to their vehicle before arresting him on the spot.
After driving around for a few minutes, Collins overheard one of the officers' conversations on the phone, sensed that he was under arrest, and attempted to flee.
“He opened the door and started screaming for help, alarming the villagers, who then charged at the officers with stones,” a local resident who witnessed the chaos narrated.
Adding: “The helpless detectives were saved by intervention by officers from the local police station.”
It was then that he was bundled into the detectives’ car and driven to Nairobi.
In his statement, Collins told detectives that his motive from the beginning was to gain followers by posing as the DP, but later changed the page’s name to his so that the followers could access his music.
Fact-checkers flagged the page as fake.
Though he told detectives he regrets his actions, he confessed that the arrest granted him a rare chance to make his maiden trip to Nairobi city.
Since his arrest, Collins has been cooling his heels at the Central Police Station as he awaits his day in court.