A man has been charged in the Wang'uru Law Courts in Kirinyaga County after sending threatening messages to the Mwea Member of Parliament, Mary Maingi.
Appearing before the court on Monday, April 14, the man was accused of contravening the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act and using the WhatsApp messaging app to send the threatening message.
"On March 27, 2025, in an undisclosed place in Kenya, you knowingly used WhatsApp to send a threatening message from your phone number to the phone number of Mary Maingi, knowing that it would be harmful to the recipient," the charges read.
The 34-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges and was issued a bond of Ksh100,000 or Ksh30,000 cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on April 28, and the hearing will be on July 28.
This is not the first Kenyan who has found themselves in such a position in a similar situation, especially since phone numbers of prominent politicians started being leaked online.
In the heat of the Gen Z protests of June 2024, several politicians who were in support of Finance Bill 2024 had their numbers leaked online so that Kenyans could "send greetings" over their controversial stance.
Most prominently, a university student was charged in November 2024 after publishing false information about President William Ruto on X, purporting that his body was being transported.
The image depicted a casket with a Kenyan flag, which was being transported by military officers dressed in ceremonial uniform, as is customary in state burials.
"The offence is said to have been committed on November 13, 2024, at an unknown location within the Republic of Kenya," the charges read.
The charges would precede a series of forced disappearances of Kenyans, mainly X users who used AI to generate images of prominent politicians in disturbing depictions.
Cartoonist Kibet Bull, whose silhouettes of the President and his allies gained notoriety on social media, led to his controversial disappearance and eventual release, whose full story is yet to be revealed.
