Titus Wekesa Sifuna before Milimani Law Courts on April 22, 2025. He is being investigated for publishing false information.
A teacher risks spending ten years in jail or paying a fine of Sh5 million for allegedly impersonating President William Ruto by using his photo as a profile picture and using the words "I Must Go" as his username on X (formerly Twitter)
According to court papers filed by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), police accuse Titus Wekesa Sifuna of using his social media handle, @Thief_5th, to post hateful messages.
Court documents indicate that the State intends to charge Sifuna with publishing false information under Section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act No. 5 of 2018.
The Act provides that "a person who knowingly publishes information that is false in print, broadcast, data or over a computer system, that is calculated or results in panic, chaos, or violence among citizens of the Republic, or which is likely to discredit the reputation of a person commits an offence and shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding Sh5 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both".
The investigating officer, Peter Mwangi, said the matter was reported to DCI through an intelligence report.
"The nature of the complaint was that an unknown individual had been posting messages and images which are derogatory and disrespectful towards the President of the Republic of Kenya and his family, in an X handle account by the name 'Thief 5th and user-name I Must Go'. The handle account has been posting the messages and images to the public, attracting negative comments which are dangerous to the peace of the nation," said Mwangi.
The magistrate heard that the Twitter account was linked to “Umbrella Trex Solution,” which is associated with the suspect.
“The postings in the X account are of great harm to the reputation of the country, being in the sense that the Presidency is a symbol of national unity and ought to be respected and honoured by all,” the investigator told the court.
Hate speech accusations
Titus Wekesa Sifuna before Milimani Law Courts on April 22, 2025. He is being investigated for publishing false information.
The police applied for orders to detain him for seven days at Capitol Hill police station to complete investigations. The court will rule on the application tomorrow (Wednesday).
"The images and messages attached to the account, which have been discovered so far during the preliminary investigations are more of a hate speech which can lead to ethnicity among the members of the public," he stated in the application.
The court heard that Sifuna used the account to solicit for business deals such as requesting anyone interested on customised logos to contact him through a mobile phone number. It is this number that investigators used to link him to the X account.
Through the business number, police were also able to obtain more information from the National Registration Bureau such as his identity card number. This informatiion led to his arrest last week on April 18 in Bungoma.
During the detention period, police say they want to get more information from his phones, laptop and hard disks.
They also intend to get the certified posts from the X handle providers on the accounts used by the suspect and escort him to his area of residence within Msambweni, Kwale County, to gather more evidence/exhibits.
This, the officer said, is because the better part of the time when the X handle account has allegedly been posting the contents, it indicated the user was within Msambweni.
"The fixed abode of the suspect is in question being in the sense that better part of his time is spent in Kwale County where he purports to be working as a volunteering teacher hence, he is a flight risk," said the investigator.
newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
