The State is Accessing Social Media Accounts of Opposition Leaders - Matiang'i Claims

Former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has alleged that the state is accessing social media accounts of opposition leaders. 

Addressing the media on Monday, August 17, Matiang’i claimed the state has acquired technology resources from an Asian country to gain access to the social media accounts. 

“The government has now decided, in addition to terrorizing opposition leaders; they have begun a new wave of digital terrorism against the opposition. 

“They have required resources from groups in an Asian country, and they are accessing social media accounts of opposition leaders,” Matiang’i alleged. 

The Jubilee Deputy Party Leader also claimed that opposition leaders are being trailed by vehicles equipped with signal jammers during rallies.

“These days we get trailed by vehicles I believe belong to the state with jammers. We stop to address rallies, but our WIFI is interfered with; you cannot communicate,” he stated. 

Matiang’i claimed that Rigathi Gachagua’s team also experienced similar challenges over the weekend.

“My staffers checked with the team Rigathi Gachagua was travelling with over the weekend. They have begun experiencing the same challenges. I believe this is the work of the state, which has the capacity to do that,” he alleged. 

Further, Matiang’i claimed that the state has invested heavily in propaganda and fake news targeting opposition leaders.

“Last week you saw a letter purportedly authored by Kanze Dena claiming that the President had said he was not going to meet with Gachagua. That is the work of the state,” Matiang’i alleged. 

At the same time, Matiang’i alleged President William Ruto and members of the National Security Council were aware of the violence witnessed during Linda Mwananci rallies in Homa Bay on Sunday. 

“I do not think, and I cannot see how the scale of violence in Homa Bay and the activities that happened there could have happened without the knowledge of the National Security Council and the President,” he claimed. 

The Linda Mwananchi team encountered suspected hired goons on Sunday, who attacked their vehicles and barricaded roads.  

The goons placed large stones on a number of roads leading into and out of Homa Bay to stop the Linda Mwananchi team from accessing the county. 

However, the Linda Mwananchi convoys used different routes and managed to address the Homa Bay locals.