Fake doctor arrested in Kisii hospital

Peter Nyapeni, 26, at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital shortly after being arrested for posing as a medical officer. PHOTO | AGGREY OMBOKI | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Nguli said the suspect claimed an administrator at the hospital cleared him to work as a medic.
  • The police boss said the suspect was found with pictures of him in police uniform.

Police have arrested a man who was masquerading as a doctor at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.

Security officials at the facility questioned the man and discovered he was not a qualified doctor.

They notified officers at Kisii Central Police Station, who arrested the suspect identified as Peter Nyapeni, 26.

BRIBE

The suspect, who has been working at the facility for the last seven months told officers that he dropped out of school in Standard Seven.

“During preliminary investigations, the suspect told us he is a Class Seven dropout that has been working sat the hospital since November 2016,” Kisii Central OCPD Francis Nguli told the Nation.

Mr Nguli said the suspect claimed an administrator at the hospital cleared him to work as a medic after he gave him a bribe.

“The suspect has told us he did not handle any serious medical case at the facility. He has mostly been treating patients with minor ailments at the children’s ward,” said Mr Nguli.

He confirmed that the administrator, who allegedly allowed the man to work at the hospital is being interrogated.

STUDENTS

“We are interrogating the said administrator to establish if he played any role in the incident,” said the police boss.

The hospital security chief Joash Mageto said he had been tracking the suspect for a week.

“I had noticed his movements, mannerisms and utterances were not consistent with other members of the medical profession. We arrested him just as he was about to attend to patients at the emergency unit,” said Mr Mageto.

Staff at the hospital said the man presented himself as a medical student from the Kenya Medical Training College.

"We knew him as a medical student because he was always in the white doctor’s coat and socialised with students from KMTC,” said a clinical officer.

The hospital’s chief executive Dr Enoch Ondari said no one was suspicious of the man as he acted like a medic.

PRISON

“My staff have always seen the suspect dressed as a medic and did not suspect him of being an imposter,” said Dr Ondari.

The CEO said the facility has a large number of medical staff, and there was a real possibility of the imposter slipping into their ranks unnoticed.

The police boss said the suspect was found with pictures of him in police uniform.

“We have found pictures of the suspect in prison warder uniform. He told us he befriended a prisons officer at Kisii Main Prisons and convinced him to allow him to take the photos while wearing the uniforms,” said Mr Nguli.

The police boss said the suspect also had other photos showing him dressed in Administration Police uniform.

He said the suspect will be arraigned in court once investigations are complete.