A Kenyan blogger was Saturday arrested by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for posting on Facebook a message that was deemed offensive to Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery.
Jackson Tirkolo Saruni, who hails from Nakuru, was apprehended in Narok town with area police boss Paul Kiogora warning locals against using communication gadgets to attack leaders and locals without any proof.
“It is against the law to insult people through social media by using derogatory language that might compromise security in the region,” said Kiogora.
Mr Saruni was blamed for accusing Nkaissery of betraying the Maasai community by trying to impress senior Jubilee leaders who are from another tribe.
“Each one of us knows that anything Kikuyu cannot in anyway help the maasai nation and any of us to a civil service appointment as any other Kenyan is but must not return the favor to the appointing authority by doing what Nkaissery is doing at the Moment. Nkassery is cutting off the hand that has fed him all this time and he will pay for it dearly,” read part of the blogger's post.
The blogger's arrest sparked mixed reactions with a section of the locals condemning the authorities for what they termed as intimidation of people who speak their mind on government’s failure to fulfill promises to Kenyans.
Saruni was arrested even after the High Court clamped a rule that has been restricting bloggers and social media users from writing freely on the internet.
Justice Mumbi Ngugi on April 19, stated that Section 29 of Kenya Information and Communications Act cap 411 was unconstitutional.
The section states that: “A person who by means of a licensed telecommunication system-sends a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character; or sends a message that he knows to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another person commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both".
Read Also: Bloggers Handed Freedom by High Court
Prior to High court ruling, a blogger identified as Peter Ekisa was ordered by the Court to pay Teso North MP Arthur Odera a whopping Sh5 Million after he circulated Facebook messages stating that the lawmaker had been misusing Uwezo Fund resources.
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Here is the post:
