Blogger, police officer and activist Newton Chebii, was arrested and is set to be detained for a period of 14 days over an alleged case of public incitement.
A charge sheet dated March 24, that was drawn up at Kapsowar Police Station, Egeyo Mrakwet County, revealed that Chebii was charged with incitement to violence, contrary to section 96 of the penal code.
"Newton Chebii on the 23rd day of March at around 1920 hours at Kapsowar Trading Center, without lawful excuse, uttered the words 'Kapsowar ni kwetu na hakuna mtu atatutisha (Kapsowar is our home and we will not be intimidated by anyone),
"An act which was calculated to incite members of the public to turn violent against a police officer on duty," a section of the charge sheet reads in part.
His arrest comes a day after he sent out a message across his social media platforms claiming that his life was in danger.
"There have been several attempts to assassinate me for my opinions at the workplace or on social media. I am aware of how some police officers in Kapsowar police station have been trailing me.
"As I write this from my cell at 2:00 a.m I am not worried about anything. I will always be ready to defend my life using every means possible. This post will one day be remembered when I am no more," read his Facebook post that has since been deleted.
His last tweet reads: 'Some police officers who are my colleagues have been trailing me looking shoot me for some days. Today, they just arrested me after they were spotted. I don't want to be another Kenei of Kenya. Anything happens to me, Corporal Opala of Kapsowar.
Chebii, in 2016, was fired from the National Police Service for attending Law Degree classes at Strathmore University without informing his superiors at the police headquarters.
The active blogger was reinstated in November 2017 with full salary and arrears but over a year later, he had not received a letter stating the same.
He approached the Ombudsman who finally resolved the case in January 2019.
"In 2016, the GSU Commanding Officer declared him a deserter as he failed to appear when deployed back to the GSU Headquarters,
"This was due to the fact that they were attending classes and the officers at the headquarters were unaware of the same,” the Ombudsman stated at the time.
It was later revealed that he had been awarded a scholarship alongside one of his colleagues.
