Nairobi — How long can a person remain in custody for mistaken identity? This is the question a magistrate wants the police to answer after it emerged that a man who has spent five months in custody, accused in two cases, may have been wrongfully arrested.

Attempts by Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei to understand how the suspect ended up in the dock did not bear much fruit yesterday. In the end, he simply asked the man, "Who exactly are you?" "My names are Erick Browns Okatch and I come from Migori," the man answered. So, why was he answering to two charges; one filed against Fredrick Shivashi and the other against Ben Owino?

The mystery first came to light last week when Mr Okatch protested that he had been wrongfully arrested and was neither of the people accused in the two cases. He wanted the court to order the police to find out who they were.

And on Friday, things became more complicated when a policeman from Central police station said the man in the dock was not the one he arrested. The officer, Mr Robert Ngiri, told the court that the actual suspect in the case had escaped. "The person in court today is not the person we arrested. There must have been some mistake," he said.

Mr Fredrick Shivashi was accused of forging a cheque worth Sh925,000. And although he was meant to be in custody, his whereabouts were unknown. The court thought it had solved the matter until another file was called under the name Ben Owino, only for Mr Okatch to stand up.

"Your honour, those names in that file are not my names and whoever that person is, it is not me," he said. He is accusing the police of throwing him in jail for five months after mistaking him for someone else.

Mr Owino is said to have pleaded not guilty and was released on a cash bail of Sh10,000 but has never appeared in court. How Mr Okatch ended up as the accused on this case is another mystery the court wants the prosecution to unveil.

Mr Mutembei has asked the prosecution to go the extra mile of finding the true identity of the man, saying it is unfortunate that such a mistake could happen. He has referred the accused back to KICC police station where more investigations are to be conducted.

"Why are they doing this to me?" Mr Okatch asked the magistrate, who, unable to help him much, said: "You can sue them for wrongfully arresting you." The prosecution is expected to give a full report on Tuesday next week.