Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has disclosed that a special unit has been established within the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to monitor threats targeted at bloggers.
Appearing before the Senate Plenary to respond to questions on various National Security raised by Senators on Wednesday, May 8, CS Kithure said there were many cases lodged by bloggers who have received threats for expressing their opinions.
"We have very many cases of complaints formally lodged by bloggers and people in cyberspace who have been threatened for expressing political or other views on Cyberspace. We have established a special unit within the DCI to monitor threats targeted at bloggers," Kithure told the Senate Plenary.
The Interior CS told senators that detectives are actively investigating several incidents against bloggers in 19 counties.
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According to CS Kindiki, detectives have focused on gangs perpetuating online attacks and offline violence against Kenyans expressing divergent opinions through various digital platforms.
He also divulged that several suspects have already been arraigned in connection with the brutal murder of Meru-based blogger Daniel Muthiani Bernard, popularly known as Sniper, a case which he described as "water-tight" and reiterated that all the culprits must account for their actions.
Sniper disappeared on December 2, and his body was discovered on December 16, 2023.
A postmortem examination conducted on the body of the deceased revealed that he died after being strangled.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor said Sniper had marks on his neck and he exhibited signs of a person who had lacked oxygen.
