An activist who was arrested over the wide circulation of a poster of President Uhuru Kenyatta has been remanded until Thursday pending a ruling on whether he will released or detained.
Police had filed an application seeking to detain Edwin Mutemi Kiama for 14 days to allow them conclude investigations.
In an affidavit filed before court, officer Patrick Kibowen said he is investigating a case of suspected contravention of several provisions of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.
He said it also includes false publication contrary to section 22(1) as read with section 22(2) (b) thereof.
Police say the suspected offences allegedly occurred on different occasions between April 5 and 6, 2021 by way of publication on social media.
“The preliminary investigations have disclosed that the Twitter handles “Mwarimu Mutemi wa Kiama” @MutemiWaKiamu and “Wanjiku Revolution" @WanjikuRevolt on which the suspected criminal publication was made is linked to Kiama,” the affidavit reads.
Kiama is accused of publishing on social media, a photo of the President with his ID number alongside a notice to the world that he is "not authorised to transact on behalf of the citizens and that the nation and future generations shall not be held liable for any penalties of bad loans negotiated and /or borrowed by him”.
Kibowen added that the words amount to false publication contrary to the law.
Kiama appeared before Milimani senior resident magistrate Jane Kamau.
He has been remanded at Central police station until Thursday.
