Four suspects charged afresh in OCS Talaam SIM swap case

Left to Right: Dennis Masava Musyimi, James Mutemi Munyithya and Amos Nzomo Kimanzi before Milimani senior principal magistrate Dolphina Alego on August 19, 2025/PETER OBUYA

Four individuals have been charged with a fresh set of counts in a SIM swap case involving former OCS Samson Talaam.

This comes following the consolidation of their cases, where they are expected to face trial under one court.

Initially, Brian Kiprotich Ronoh was the sole suspect in the case. 

However, investigations by authorities led to the addition of three more suspects: Dennis Masavi Musyimi, James Mutemi, and Amos Nzomo Kimanzi.

They are alleged to have orchestrated a fraudulent SIM swap scheme that targeted former Central OCS Samson Talaam, in which the public was swindled of their money.

"The four, on diverse dates between June 16 and 19, with others not before court, conspired to commit a felony, namely computer fraud, whereby you fraudulently or dishonestly replaced  SIM card no. 0722919880 belonging to Talaam Samson Kiprotich and unlawfully solicited money from members of the public for your own gain," the charge sheet reads. 

Dennis Masavi Musyimi had previously pleaded guilty to three counts of fraudulently replacing Taalam's phone number and soliciting cash from the public.

The phone was at the time in the custody of the Independent Police Oversight Authority, which was then investigating Taalam over the death of teacher and blogger Albert Ojwang while in a police cell.

Musyimi pleaded guilty to willfully procuring the replacement of the SIM card belonging to Talaam by falsely pretending to be the rightful owner.

However, at a court session on Wednesday, September 3, all four suspects were charged afresh and pleaded not guilty.

The prosecution has listed several witnesses, including the former OCS, a Safaricom representative, and a cyber analyst.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, Ronoh faces further charges of identity theft and unlawful possession of another person's ID card.

The case is scheduled to return to court on September 18, 2025, for pre-trial directions.