Police have chosen to charge Rose Njeri with an offence of unauthorised interference with computer systems.
In the charge sheet that was made public on Tuesday, June 3, Njeri was accused of contravening the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crime Act, section 16.
According to the police, Njeri created a system that enabled users to automatically generate emails to the National Assembly's Finance Committee.
"Rose Njeri Tunguru: On the 19th day of May,2025, at 2001 hrs at an unknown location within the Republic of Kenya, hosted knowingly made https://civicemail.netlify.app/ that automatically generated you and sent a mass program emails at to [email protected] which is the official systems of the finance committee, thereby interfering with the normal functioning of the systems," read the charge sheet in part.
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According to the charge sheet, the state was the complainant through the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
The witnesses listed in the charge sheet include the arresting officer, the investigating officer, a cyber expert, and a digital analyst.
The arrest of Njeri has elicited an uproar among Kenyans, with lawyers, including former Chief Justice David Maraga, attending the proceedings at the Milimani Law Courts.
"We reject and object to the outrageous charges preferred against Rose Njeri," Eugene Wamalwa wrote on his X page.
Notably, leaders from the Kenya Kwanza government also expressed their reservations over the arrest.
“When we have topical issues, things that concern the entire country, we should find ways in which we can receive feedback more easily. There has to be a proper way of feeding back into the system, and I thought what she had done was brilliant unless there's something else we are missing.” Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot noted during an interview on Monday.
"Sometimes the government sabotages itself. Rose Njeri, who is a mother of two, is being arrested for creating a website, unless there's another crime. What she has downloaded, is it the actual Finance Bill? Or is she inciting people? But if it's just about education, I don't see the need for such an arrest," Nominated MP Sabina Chege added
