UPDATE Wednesday, July 29:15:49 Blogger Isaac Kibet was on Wednesday, July 29, freed on a Ksh 50,000 cash bail after being charged over misleading publication on Interior CS Fred Matiangi's health.
Kibet and his brother landed in trouble after spreading rumors that the Interior CS had contracted Covid-19.
Matiang'i has since refuted the claims and has been seen in public several times after these rumors.
UPDATE Monday, July 25:Isaac Kibet, one of the suspects who were accused of fabricating reports that Interior CS Fred Matiang'i was admitted to ICU, has been detained.
The suspect was detained for two days to allow investigations into the matter be completed.
The prosecution claimed that if released, the suspect would interfere with the Facebook accounts and witnesses of the case.
Two men were on Saturday, July 25, arrested in Eldoret for posting false information on Twitter about Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i.
The suspects, Emmanuel Kimutai Kosgei aged 31 and his 19-year-old brother Isaac Kibet Yego, indicated that Matiang'i had been hospitalised after contracting Covid-19.
They were arrested on Saturday by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives at Ngeria area in Uasin Gishu County.
The two have been detained for questioning and are expected to be arraigned in court next week.
Police have since retrieved a mobile phone and laptop that might have been used to publish the social media posts.
On Friday evening, Matiang'i dispelled the rumours and disclosed that he had filed a report with the police and at the same time, ordered the DCI boss George Kinoti and the Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, to launch an investigation into the issue.
"I feel for my family. My wife and children have their own lives but were subjected to false reports. They are private citizens paying the price of me being in the limelight," Matiang'i lamented.
Once found, Matiang'i had ordered for them to be apprehended, saying that they wanted to humiliate him in public.
The Interior CS promised that he would share his status to the public, if he happened to contract the virus.
The government has moved to fight the propagation of fake news by stipulating stiff penalties for anyone found guilty of the crime.
Earlier in 2020, President Uhuru Kenyatta enacted the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill, 2017 providing a two-year jail term or Ksh5 million fine for spreading fake news.
“A person who intentionally publishes false, misleading or fictitious data or misinforms with the intent that the data shall be considered or acted upon as authentic, with or without any financial gain, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both,” reads clause 12 of the new law.
