A warrant of arrest was on Tuesday, April 21, issued against controversial blogger Cyprian Nyakundi.
People Daily was first to report that Milimani Principal Magistrate Caroline Muthoni had issued the warrant after the blogger had failed to appear before the court to answer to charges of publishing false information pertaining to the death of a senior official at the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
Investigating officer Isaac Tenai attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Nairobi Central, on April 20 sought the warrant after Nyakundi was a no-show in court.
He had been accused of spreading false information that the KRA officer had travelled abroad and failed to quarantine upon return.
The blogger was first arrested on the evening of Tuesday, March 24, after he made the post.
He was then locked up at Central Police Station shortly after posting on social media that he had received a summon from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
DCI reportedly reached out to the blogger through WhatsApp asking him to surrender to the police, an order he had willingly honoured.
Nyakundi had earlier on made an eyebrow-raising post claiming that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga may have indirectly interacted with Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi who is on self-quarantine.
"I have reports that Raila Odinga didn't meet Governor Kingi but met Dabaso Ward ODM aspirant (Dickson Karani) in the forthcoming election. The aspirant had spent his day with Mung'aro (Gideon). Mung'aro, on the other hand, had met with Kingi. Kingi had met his deputy (Gideon Saburi)," shared the blogger.
This came with a backdrop of the national government repeatedly issuing stern warnings against the spread of misleading information that may cause panic.
The DCI had also warned against the circulation of false information warning of heavy fines if one was found guilty that included jail time.
Since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in Kenya, two other individuals have been arrested for allegedly sharing misleading information on the pandemic in the country.
Blogger Robert Alai was released on Ksh50,000 bail on Monday, March 23, after spending the weekend in jail for posting Covid-19 information authorities deemed misleading.
Alai was barred from publishing any information on the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic after he was charged with circulating false information.
He allegedly published misleading information on Coronavirus-related deaths in Kenya on his Twitter page on March 19, 2020.
One Elijah Muthui Kitonyo, 23, was arrested for also publishing alarming information on his Twitter page on March 15, 2020. He had alleged that the government was misleading Kenyans on the Covid-19 situation in the country.
