A 22-year-old Kiambu man was arraigned and charged in court on Monday, March 1, for plotting to assassinate President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Detectives said that Simon Muchiri posted threatening messages targeting the head of state on his social media pages on February 27.
"That on February 27 at an unknown place, you published on your Facebook page that you would kill President Uhuru Kenyatta without hesitation if you had a gun," read the prosecution charge sheet.
The suspect was further accused of misusing his social media pages and threatening peace and tranquillity in Kenya and the Office of the President. Detectives said that they tracked Muchiri through his mobile phone, a few days after they learnt of his alleged Facebook post.
Police apprehended him on the said day in a covert operation, detained him for interrogation and presented him in court, two days later to answer the charges.
Muchiri pleaded not guilty while appearing before Kiambu Principal Magistrate, Grace Omodho and was released on a Ksh 200,000 cash bail.
The prosecution failed to convince the court that Muchiri would interfere with evidence or was a flight risk. The defence lawyers argued that he was a first-time offender and a young adult who did not have any criminal records.
Omodho asked the two teams to present evidence in court on March 15 when the case would be heard.
In September 2020, Interior CS Fred Matiang'i warned of a crackdown on social media users he alleged were a threat to the nation. The CS disclosed that his docket would heighten efforts to arrest and charge suspects and also warned of a surge in such cases as the county gears towards the 2022 elections.
"The emergence of digital vigilantes whose intention is to attack those with divergent views; annihilate and cover-up the truth; and spread hate against others, cannot go unchallenged. We must fervently guard the freedom in our digital space against those who seek to sully it,” Matiang’i said while addressing media stakeholders in Nairobi.
Offenders would be charged under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act which aims to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer systems, programs and data as well as facilitate the prevention, detection, investigation, prosecution and punishment of cybercrimes.
It establishes various offences including unauthorised interference or interception of computer systems programs or data, false publication of data, cyber harassment, cybersquatting, cyber terrorism, identity theft and impersonation, phishing, computer fraud, computer forgery, unauthorised disclosure of passcodes, fraudulent use of electronic data, issuance of false e-instructions among others.
Suspects can be fined between Ksh 200,000 to Ksh 10 million or face imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or both.
