A high-stakes commercial litigation has exposed President William Ruto’s alleged plan to acquire an online propaganda machine to counter hostility against his administration and boost his 2027 re-election campaign.
The fallout between the President’s close aides and the American owners of the $923,346 (Sh120 million) software has revealed the alleged plan to deploy “confidential software with the capacity to spy on targets” as part of Dr Ruto’s re-election bid.
It also highlights how public funds withdrawn from confidential accounts were to be spent “to source for technological solutions to guarantee consistency and clarity in government communications” and how much more could be paid out in court awards for breach of contract.
The suit was filed on Monday at the Milimani High Court by Mary Wachuka Maina, a dual Kenyan and Canadian citizen who owns Jipe Inc., a company registered in Canada.
In court papers, she describes herself as an international data scientist and software engineer “with disruptive and innovative technology expertise”.
The legal dispute began in New York, United States of America, where Ms Wachuka had to, on May 13, 2024, pay $950,430 (Sh123 million) as compensation for breach of contract to a firm she had subcontracted for the collapsed Kenyan project.
Now, she has sued four senior government officials and two aides of the President seeking $2,246,322 (Sh292 million) in compensation and an order restraining the defendants or their agents from “sending her and her mother menacing death threats by phone, email, or any other means over the contract or the claim”.
The defendants are National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo, Head of Public Service Felix Koskei, the Attorney-General, Mr Jayesh Saini, and Mr Eric Ng’eno, the President’s speech writer.
“This case involves the defendants’ fraudulent misrepresentation and breach of contract, which caused the plaintiff (Wachuka) a significant loss of $1,322,976 (Sh172 million),” reads the court papers drawn by Kanchori Mutali & Co Advocates.
According to the documents, Mr Ng’eno had tasked Wachuka and Jipe Inc. with delivering robust software capable of managing the President and his deputy’s social media pages and deleting negative reactions to uploaded posts.
The pitch indicated that the software could predict critical media coverage and prepare counter strategies.
Jipe, which markets itself as a business solutions provider on its website, was to receive Sh130 million for the political tool.
The deal, court papers show, was conceived on November 7 last year at Moxxies restaurant in Kilimani, where Mr Ng’eno met Ms Wachuka.
Mr Ng’eno, the secretary for policy messaging and the President’s official speech writer, alleged informed Ms Wachuka that the President had tasked him with “sourcing technological solutions to guarantee consistency and clarity in government communications”, among other things.
He requested Ms Wachuka “as a matter of urgency” to develop “confidential software” to manage strategic communications toward the President’s 2027 re-election bid.
“The software would have the capacity to spy on targets,” court papers state.
Ms Wachuka, who has worked on such projects for governments worldwide, was attentive as the soft-spoken Mr Ng’eno presented President Ruto’s wish list. He revealed President Ruto’s pain with his government’s communication department, which was apparently failing him.
The project was urgent, so Ms Wachuka was to drop all other assignments and immediately commence developing the software that would address the needs of the President’s communication department and that of his deputy, then Rigathi Gachagua . Last month, Mr Gachagua was impeached by Parliament and replaced by Prof Kindiki Kithure.
The software that President Ruto was alleged hoping to purchase was a unique one with top-of-the-range specs.
First, it was meant to have the capacity to manage the President’s and his deputy’s social media pages. The President hoped that it would be enabled to delete or hide harmful and vulgar comments, and respond to positive ones.
The software was also to be customised to monitor the Raila Odinga -led opposition. It would allow the President and his deputy to monitor how the opposition manages communication, audience and reach.
Influence trending hashtags
Further, the software was to be programmed to allow the government to monitor and influence trending hashtags on social media, monitor public sentiments about the President and gauge his popularity based on ethnicity.
Ms Wachuka and her team of software developers in the US were further tasked with customising the software to improve the image of the President and his deputy. Mr Ng’eno said the President wanted the software to address his government’s reputation problem.
The software that Ms Wachuka and her team were to deliver would also conduct searches on journalists and media houses. This would enable the government to produce and disseminate dossiers that would counter the credibility of the media.
In general, the software would be used to gather intelligence and produce reports on planned attacks by the media and opposition. This would make it easy for the Ruto administration to influence the public’s perception of his government.
Lastly, the software was to be used for psychometric profiling and management. Government officials would map out behaviours, skills and knowledge to understand the mental processes and social patterns of politicians, and use this information to their advantage.
This function would help the government manage the public by using information that would portray the government in a positive light and taint the image of the opposition.
After this meeting, Mr Ng’eno directed Ms Wachuka to commence the project immediately and promised that the government would pay her for her services. No formal agreement on the payment was made at this time, and Mr Ng’eno pledged that he would meet some top officials close to President Ruto who would fund the project.
Mr Saini, the billionaire behind the billions of shillings Social Health Insurance Fund deal, was mentioned as one of the individuals who would be consulted regarding funding the project.
Ms Wachuka, Mr Ng’eno and Mr Saini attended a follow-up meeting on November 22, 2023 at an office in Arch Place on Nyangumi Road. It was during this meeting that Ms Wachuka was first introduced to Saini, who was identified as the man who would oversee the project and handle the finances.
Earlier, on November 12, Ms Wachuka had told her associate that the proposal had been presented “to the government financier and oligarch Jayesh Saini, who was put in charge of financing the whole software”.
It was explained to Ms Wachuka that owing to the confidentiality of the project, only Mr Saini would handle the finances and oversee the implementation.
During the meeting, Mr Saini and his personal assistant, Nishant Mishra, raised many issues, which made the data scientist doubt his ability to handle the situation.
Ms Wachuka did not hesitate to inform Ng’eno of her reservations about executing the project under Mr Saini’s supervision. She threatened to terminate the deal if Mr Saini was the man to supervise the job.
But Mr Ng’eno prevailed on her to allow Mr Saini to present the project to President Ruto first, after which a directive on how the project would be undertaken would be given.
On December 17, 2023, Mr Ng’eno again reached out to Ms Wachuka and informed her that he had met President Ruto on the issue and that the President had promised to give his nod the following day (December 18).
As promised, on December 18, 2023, Mr Ng’eno contacted Ms Wachuka with the great news that the President had okayed the project.
According to the court paper, the President approved the project based on Mr Ng’eno’s pitch and the tool’s alignment with “the government’s messaging needs”.
Mr Ng’eno alleged said that the budget presented no problem as the money would be sourced from the National Treasury’s confidential account or from the 2024 budgetary allocation.
On December 20, 2023, Ms Wachuka formally subcontracted another firm—Tesxo.
Tesxo was run by Sheldon Trent and Richardson Richardson, who had partnered with Ms Wachuka on several such projects for almost a decade.
In November, Ms Wachuka had expressed her desire to retain their services on the sensitive contract from the Kenyan government. They indicated they could shelve a project they had for the United Kingdom to prioritise the Kenyan project.
When Ms Wachuka asked them to proceed with the Kenyan project, they demanded a commitment fee. Ms Wachuka contacted Mr Ng’eno, who assured her of the release of the agreed money.
Based on Mr Ng’eno’s assurances, Ms Wachuka entered into a contract with Tesxo to execute the project codenamed “Numera 2023”.
Under the contract of December 23, 2023, Ms Wachuka on-boarded Tesxo for $460,000 (Sh60 million). There was a $12,000 (Sh1.5 million) per week penalty for delayed payments for the project. Under the agreement, 60 per cent of the contract sum, that is $276,000 (Sh36 million), was due as a down payment on January 31, 2024, while 40 per cent, $184,000 (Sh24 million), was due on delivery of the software on February 28.
Trent says in court papers that Ms Wachuka informed them that Mr Ng’eno “had been tasked by the Kenyan President to source a technological solution that could ensure consistency and clarity in communication within government, amongst other things, but not limited to ‘spying’ on the citizenry of Kenya”.
On December 29, 2023, Mr Ng’eno told Ms Wachuka to get ready for the job and revealed that he had planned a meeting with top government officials who included Mr Koskei.
Dr Kiptoo and Director-General, Public Investment and Portfolio Lawrence Kibet were also expected at the meeting. Mr Ng’eno told Ms Wachuka that the three top government officials were eager to meet her to discuss the project’s financing. However, this meeting did not take place.
On January 8, 2024 , Mr Ng’eno reached out to Ms Wachuka again and promised that the Kenyan government would remit Sh258 million for the project.
Ms Wachuka had taken Mr Ng’eno’s promises to be true. Despite the delays, she hoped the government would honour its pledge.
In the US, the team subcontracted by Ms Wachuka to develop the software was counting days before their promised payment hit their bank accounts.
On January 3, Ms Wachuka had to pay the first instalment of the penalty—Sh1.5 million— for the delayed payments to the sub-contractors. Matters were now moving from bad to worse.
On February 10, Tesxo issued Ms Wachuka with a 12-day ultimatum to pay what was owed to them or they would prosecute her.
Eventually, Ms Wachuka had to agree to settle the dispute over the Sh122 million that the company she had subcontracted was demanding from her.
She says in court papers that she lost everything she had worked for while in the US, including her house, to settle the hefty fines imposed on her.
On July 24, Ms Wachuka and Mr Ng’eno met at a parking lot in Kilimani. Again, Mr Ng’eno promised to pay Ms Wachuka all the cash promised for the job and advised her to be patient.
Since this meeting, Ms Wachuka says, she is yet to receive a single coin as promised. Instead, she has been receiving death threats sent to her through email and text messages. The death threats have been extended to her parents.
One such death threat, she says, was sent at 9.45am on July 26. The subject line read: “Jackie Maina, beware, we will kill you”.
“We know what you are planning, and trust me, we will kill you soon. You are angry because you were dumped now you want to destroy our country? We are putting you on notice. Move on,” she says in court papers.
Ms Wachuka has asked the court to intervene in the matter. She wants the court to compel the government and its agencies to desist from sending threats to her and her mother.
She also wants the court to order the government to pay her Sh119 million for the breach of contract and another Sh170 million as compensation for her losses.
She is also seeking an additional Sh12 million, which she paid out as a penalty for delayed payments to her subcontractors, and Sh47 million, which she lost through a forced sale of her house in the US.
