Activists Boniface Mwangi on Thursday, April 2, bluntly called out former Secretary for Digital, Innovations and Diaspora Communications, Dennis Itumbi, terming him a "snake".
Itumbi had tweeted a comment against Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe's directive to have social media users arrested for posting what the CS termed as trivial comments about Ivy Brenda, Kenya's Covid-19 patient 1 who had recovered from the disease.
''Threats against social media users, are unnecessary. Doubt, criticism and praise, will not be stopped by the DCI,'' tweeted Itumbi before adding that the DCI needed to focus on other issues as opposed to tracking Kenyans expressing their views on social media.
''Instead of DCI being used to arrest online users, they should be helping to trace contacts via phone triangulation, the same tech used to arrest bloggers,'' added former digital media strategist at State House.
Mwangi reminded Itumbi how he spent his years as a government employee doing what the activist described as insulting human rights defenders, the judiciary and defending impunity and destroying lives with lies.
''Now because Uhuru fired you, you pretend to be a good person. You spent 2012-19 insulting human rights defenders, judiciary and defending impunity. You called civil society, the evil society. You're a snake. I hope one day you will apologise,'' Mwangi stated.
Itumbi who was recently relieved off his duties as Digital and Diaspora Communication Officer, in the Office of the President has been a man under siege.
The altercation had Kenyans on Twitter weighing in on the appropriateness of the messages shared by the two who have a massive following on social media.
One Misiku Verm compared Itumbi to exiled lawyer Miguna Miguna whose criticism of people he does not agree with is indiscriminate, stating ''Itumbi and Miguna Miguna are just but one thing. Praising you today, calling you names tomorrow."
''For the first time in a long while you are talking some sense..keep it up,'' stated Jack Robins.
Moses Githuga had words of advice to his fellow social media users urging them to act responsibly.
''I am a social media user and I am not feeling threatened because I am a responsible social media user. I have my boundaries and I respect other people's private lives. I don't post or tweet what I cannot defend,'' he stated.
