Former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana has castigated the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for detaining a man who was arrested and arraigned in court for impersonating President William Ruto on X.
In a statement on Thursday, April 24, 2025, Kibwana indicated that the 22-year-old Titus Sifuna Wekesa was merely running a fun account.
“Surely, DCI, it is wrong to arrest 22-year-old Titus Wekesa Sifuna for impersonating His Excellency the President merely cos he ran a fun account,” Kibwana noted.
Detained for three days
Sifuna was arraigned at the Milimani Law Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, where the prosecution succeeded in granting Investigating Officer (IO) Peter Mwangi orders to detain him for three days at the Capitol Hill Police Station in Nairobi.
Appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo, Sifuna’s detention was reduced from the 7 days requested by IO Mwangi to only three days.
“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 Onsarigo ruled.
Dangerous for peace
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.
Flight risk
“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,” Mwangi argued.
Police said that they needed more time to visit Msambweni in Kwale County, where Sifuna is said to have been posting the messages on X from before his arrest in Bungoma County.
The IO had beseeched the court to grant him more days with Sifuna, arguing that he was a flight risk given the distance between where he posted the X messages and where he was arrested, which is close to 1,000 kilometres apart.