A Saturday morning Twitter space discussing the detention of a content creator turned dramatic as a section of government officials joined the conversation.
Among those who joined was president William Ruto, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot.
Whereas Ruto did not talk in the conversation started to demand the release of @_CrazyNairobian, he quit as those in there realized his presence.
The Twitter users were on the “Good Morning Kenya; Where is Crazy Nairobian” when the drama began.
The president or the one handling his account left almost ten seconds after he joined.
Those in the conversation noticed and chided his move.
Murkomen was the first to join and tried to address it the listeners who had grown to more than 50,000 but the controllers asked him to stick to the topic of the missing Twitter user also known as Billy The Goat.
Those in the conversation took their time educating the listeners on their rights, how they will protest against the proposed taxes and other electoral issues.
They told those who have never voted to take the matter seriously in the coming elections and be registered and make sure they vote.
The discussion was started after police arrested at least five content creators over claims they had abused some people
On Saturday, 25 human rights associations of content creators, lawyers, medical officers and human rights defenders across the country called on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to clarify the whereabouts of the content creator
The agencies include the Bloggers Association of Kenya, The Law Society, Kenya Medical Association, Defenders Coalition, the Independent Medical Legal Union and Amnesty International Kenya. Reports from family and friends that Billy Simani has been arrested and is currently detained by the National Police Service in an undisclosed location.
They demanded the immediate release of any other content creators currently under arrest, the government to issue a public undertaking that no content creators or any Kenyan for that matter will be arrested for expressing their opinion online or for supporting the current protests.
“The government to guarantee the right to freedom of expression for all Kenyans in line with our Constitution, the independent state agencies to independently investigate these arrests with a view to holding those responsible accountable.”
They said the rights of arrested persons are clearly laid out in constitution Article 49.
“We remind all state officers and the public that any infractions of this article and forcibly abducting, holding of persons incommunicado or the denial of visitation rights are crimes under our laws.”
Blogger Dennis Itumbi claimed Billy was under arrest over claims he sent threatening message(s).
“I get hundreds of those myself, & they do not bother me. But well, it is a crime. I am unable to intervene, though I strongly disagree. I will reach out to the complainant to see if he/she can withdraw.”
This come in the wake of plans to hold more protests over the proposed taxes.
A wave of Gen Zs took to the streets to protest against the Finance Bill 2024, but the government seems not to take the demonstrations seriously going by the turn of events.
Government officials have sought to discredit the protests, terming them as a ploy for the youth to get more views on their social media platforms.
Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah’s latest remarks attracted the ire of the youth after he claimed that the protestors were misguided and did not understand the contents of the bill.
He mocked the youthful protesters insinuating that they were privileged persons arriving at the protests in taxis while holding iPhones and then later dining at KFC joints after the demonstrations.
“The Gen Z have iphones and use Ubers to protest. Wanatoka maandamano wanaingia KFC kukula kuku na minofu, maji ni ile ya chupa…si mliwaona? Hawajui shida stima ni kitu gani…wako na umeme 24/7,” he said in Baringo County on Friday.
Kapsaret MP Oscar Sudi also sought to censure the protests, saying that the youth did not understand the bill.
President William Ruto’s economic adviser David Ndii mocked the demonstrations and termed the digital activism as “wanking.”
“Politics is a contact sport. Digital activism is just wanking. Any jackass can kick down a barn but it takes a good carpenter to build one,” Ndii said.
The comments have elicited the ire of Kenyans online who seek an audit of the billions collected from revenue from taxes introduced in past Finance Bills.
Critics have also called on the government to take the issue seriously, citing that the youth have taken it upon themselves to bring a revolution in the country, regardless of tribe or political stand.
Dagoretti South Member of Parliament John ‘KJ’ Kiarie was on the spot over his remarks, claiming that some of the photos shared online were either old or doctored to drive an agenda as they did not represent the true state of affairs.
He was on Friday shouted down at a meeting in his constituency.
Kitui South MP Rachel Nyamai claimed that the Gen Zs were only interested in gaining TikTok views.
Using the #OccupyParliament, the youth sought to access Parliament at a time when the MPs were voting on the bill.
Braving teargas, water canons and intimidations, the protests ran through the entire afternoon and into the night, with the youth exercising their rights to demonstrate.
Despite the numerous protests across the country, 204 MPs voted in support of the bill, against 115, meaning that the bill proceeds to the Committee of the Whole House next week.
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