Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations yesterday arrested 23-year-old Elijah Muthui Kitonyo from Mwingi for sharing misleading information about coronnavirus.
In a tweet, Kitonyo alleged that he worked at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), and that he knew patient zero who was the first case of coronavirus in the country.
He even went ahead and published a phono of the plane she allegedly boarded from Rome, and attached a name Millicent Musau.
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He has since pulled down the tweet, and tweeted again saying that he does not work at JKIA but is a student.
“Wueh huyo Mimi ni student pale mwingi Kmtc na hata sijui kitu,” he tweeted.
He will be charged for publishing false information that is calculated or results in panic contrary to section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crimes Act of 2018.
Section 23 of the Act states 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 five million shillings or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both”.
“We urge members of the public to be responsible and to desist from authoring, publishing or sharing unconfirmed information that may cause panic and anxiety,” said the DCI in a tweet.
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