David Oaga Mokaya shared an image on the social media platform, X, of a funeral procession and captioned it to suggest that it was a procession of President William Ruto’s funeral.
There are jokes made online on a daily basis, but some can go too far and land one in trouble with the authorities, as was the case with a university student who was arraigned in court on Monday, November 18.
The student was charged with the publication of false information, according to a statement by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP). David Oaga Mokaya shared an image on the social media platform, X, of a funeral procession and captioned it to suggest that it was a procession of President William Ruto’s funeral.
“A university student was today charged at the Milimani Law Courts with publishing false information by posting an image of a funeral procession featuring a casket covered with the Kenyan flag escorted by military officers in ceremonial uniform.
“The court heard that David Oaga Mokaya shared the said image on his X account, “Landlord @bozgabi,” with the caption suggesting it showed President William Ruto’s body being transported,” the ODPP stated in part.
David Mokaya was arraigned in court on November 18, 2024. /ODPP
According to the charge sheet, Mokaya committed the offense which is contrary to section 22 (1) of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018.
“David Oaga Mokaya: On the 13th November 2024 at an unknown place within the Republic of Kenya intentionally published false data being an image of a funeral procession with a casket covered with a Kenyan flag, escorted by military officers in ceremonial uniform, which you captioned, ‘President William Ruto’s body leaves Lee Funeral Home’ – over a computer system X using account Landlord @bozgabi within tent that the data shall be considered as authentic,” the charge sheet read.
ODPP further noted that the accused person fabricated the date to make the post appear authentic. Mokaya pleaded not guilty to the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Benmark Ekhumbi.
The court granted the accused person a bond of Ksh100,000 with an alternative cash bail of Ksh50,000. The case is scheduled for mention on December 4, 2024.
A reverse image search conducted by Viral Tea revealed that the image Mokaya shared was posted by State House depicting the funeral procession of the late former President, Mwai Kibaki.
‘President William Ruto’s Body leaves Lee Funeral Home’ https://t.co/VpJ8wluLm4 pic.twitter.com/BVUfmYn64u
— LANDLORD???????? (@bozgabi) November 13, 2024
Mokaya was also revealed to be using an account subscribed to X Premium, a subscription service that adds a blue checkmark to a user’s account and offers access to select features, like Edit Tweet as well as enhanced engagements per post. This post attracted over 3,800 reposts and 15,000 likes, viewed over 499,700 times.
We reported on March 23, 2023, that a section of Kenyans had opined that the presence of an increased number of blue ticks on user profiles on X could increase misinformation and disinformation spread across the platform, given that the verified status was only reserved for journalists, celebrities and politicians among others.
For a long time, it was seen that any user who possesses a blue checkmark on their account meant that whatever post the individual made was authentic, or the person is authentic, regardless of whether or not the information they share is true.
However, the huge presence of blue ticks has since brought forth a new age of misinformation and disinformation since “Verified Brayo (Brian) tweeted that so it must be true of what he is saying” at a time whereby anyone with access to a phone can be a citizen journalist at will. Blue ticks are at the moment vulnerable to sharing anything out of the blue without counterchecking with official sources whether or not it’s authentic, at times taking advantage of highly-discussed events.
This one came at a time when Kenyans have been engaging in conversations about the service of the Ruto administration, using various creative ways including posters and cartoons online to put across their thoughts.
A viral cartoon series created by user @Kibet_bull, meant to critique the government, has been used to highlight the government’s wins and successes, prompting an online cartoon battle. However, Kibet has in recent days indicated that government-aligned bloggers and supporters launched the counter-campaign, using the same artistic style, to try and silence Kenyans.
The original campaign has surged on, with Kenyans on social media insisting that Ruto’s administration has not delivered on its promises.
