Free at last! Student charged for sharing image of ‘Ruto’s funeral procession’ acquitted

Magistrate Caroline Nyaguthi ruled that the prosecution failed to establish a case against Mokaya.

The trial court found that the accused person’s electronic gadgets were examined without a valid court order.

It emerged during proceedings that although investigators claimed to have obtained orders to search and extract data from the devices, those orders were never presented before the court.

The examination of the gadgets was therefore conducted illegally after they had already been seized.

The court further noted that cybercrime prosecutions must be handled with strict adherence to the law, given the sensitive and technical nature of digital evidence, which can easily be interfered with or hacked.

Six witnesses were called to testify in the case.

In acquitting Mokaya, the court emphasised that it was the prosecution’s duty to prove that he was the person who authored or posted the alleged false information.

The prosecution, however, failed to conclusively link him to the publication in question.

As a result, the court dismissed the charges and set him free.

According to the Prosecution, Mokaya allegedly used his X (formerly Twitter) account, under the handle “Landlord @bozgabi” to share the image on November 13, 2024.