Charles Karanja is the real name of the man known as ‘The Eyewitness’ and who goes by the alias Dennis Muigai Ngengi. The man is claimed to have witnessed both the fatal accident involving Nyeri Governor Dr Wahome Gakuru and the chopper crash in Lake Nakuru.
The maternal uncle, Francis Ng’ang’a Njogu, has told detectives that his nephew was named Charles Karanja. The son of a single mother (name withheld), Karanja was born in 1977 at Kirimukuyu village of Karatina, Nyeri.
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Investigators had been struggling to establish his true identity. Karanja has no national identity card. Police say they will prefer fresh charges against him for failing to register as a Kenyan. His fingerprints cannot be located in the centralised data system at the registrar of persons.
Days before Gakuru’s death, Karanja was interviewed by media as a witness at the Lake Nakuru helicopter crash scene that claimed the lives of the pilot and four of his passengers. The man alleged that Captain Apollo Malowa, the pilot of the ill-fated helicopter, was a colleague in the aviation industry.
At one point, Karanja told police that he shared lineage with the First Family and that he was a frequent guest at State House. “The intention of mentioning State House was to intimidate us, but we have finally unmasked him,” said a detective.
Karanja is being held in custody in Msambweni, Kwale County over a different case pending in the local court where he has been accused of impersonating a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) captain.
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The offence was committed in 2015, according to Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) boss Noah Katumo. He was denied bail after prosecutors objected, arguing that the offence was serious.
The detective says Karanja has committed several frauds with women being most of his victims. The father of two was arrested after claiming he was trailing Governor Gakuru when the accident occurred near Kabati, along the Thika Superhighway.
Karanja’s estranged wife, Damaris Karuitha, lives with their children in Nairobi where she runs a business. Karanja was arrested at his girlfriend’s house within Utawala estate.
