A Milimani Magistrate Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, detained Titus Wekesa Sifuna, a 22-year-old man, for three days for impersonating President William Ruto on X and deceiving Kenyans that he would leave office.
Wekesa, who was arrested in Bungoma County, is said to have been posting content on the X handle, calling himself the fifth President of Kenya under the username “I Must Go.”
Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsaringo ordered Sifuna to be detained for three days instead of the seven days the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had sought.
“I hereby allow the application sought by the Investigating Officer on the grounds that the respondent will be held for a period of three days at Capitol Hill Police Station, so as to allow the Investigating Officer to complete the investigations,” Senior Principal Magistrate Onsaringo ruled.
According to a miscellaneous application filed by Investigating Officer Peter Mwangi, Sifuna has been posting messages and images on the said X handle that have been attracting negative comments, which are dangerous to the peace of the nation.
Further, he states that the content is of great harm to the reputation of the country, in the sense that the Presidency is a symbol of national unity and ought to be respected and honoured by all.
IO Mwangi also states that the content on the X account portrays hate speech and might lead to ethnic violence.
“The images and messages attached to the account, which have been discovered so far during the preliminary investigations, are more of hate speech, which can lead to ethnic tensions among other members of the public.”
Additionally, Officer Mwangi states that the identity card (ID) used to register the SIM card operating the X account, purporting that President Ruto is about to resign under pressure imposed by Kenyans to have him leave office, belongs to Sifuna.
While seeking to detain Sifuna, IO Mwangi told the court that they would need to visit Msambweni in Kwale County, where he has been living for the better part of the year while posting the content on X, to enable them to gather more evidence.
He stated that Sifuna is a flight risk since he confided to him that he was living in Kwale, working as a volunteer teacher in the area where the content on the X handle has been posted from, though he was arrested in Bungoma County.