Activist Morara Kebaso was arraigned in Nairobi’s Milimani court on Tuesday and charged with cyber harassment of businessman David Langat.
The charges came a day after he spent the night in solitary confinement after his dramatic arrest on Monday.
The prosecution filed several charges against the activist, including cyber harassment under Section 27 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act.
According to the charge sheet shared by his lawyer, Kebaso was arrested for allegedly posting false information about billionaire businessman Langat.
“David Morara Kebaso alias Morara Kebaso Snr did on the 28th day of September 2024 at an unknown place in the Republic of Kenya, together with others not before the court, while using the X Corp account dubbed; @MoraraKebasoSnr, knowingly and without lawful excuse, post false information to wit…,” the charge sheet reads in part.
In the controversial post, Kebaso allegedly accused President William Ruto of allegedly tricking Langat into lending him a huge amount of money with the promise of repayment.
Kebaso claimed that Langat had taken out huge loans to lend the president the amount he demanded. Morara then claimed that Lang’at had been hit by a wave of auctions in which he allegedly lost millions of dollars’ worth of property to the government.
“William Ruto approached DL Langat and told him he urgently needed more money for the campaign. DL Langat used his properties as collateral and took out huge loans to help his friend…,” Kebaso alleged in the controversial post shared on X.
“Right now DL Langat is being auctioned by banks and the person buying the properties is William Ruto,” the controversial post added.
The activist did not plead to the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh50,000 by Milimani chief magistrate Lucas Onyina who will rule on October 4 whether Morara will be called upon to plead to the charge which defence lawyers claim to be defective.
Lawyers Willis Otieno Njiru Ndegwa and Martha Karua asked the court to quash it as it does not disclose offence.
As the proceedings went in before court, agitated youths protested outside demanding his release.
“Release Morara. Aachiliwe,” the youth said.
The charges against Kebaso come barely a day after he was arrested by suspected detectives. The activist was reportedly ambushed at his offices in Kahawa Sukari, Nairobi.
