A Kenyan national is serving a three-year prison sentence abroad after using an online mobilisation tactic popularised during Kenya’s 2024 Gen Z protests to target a member of a powerful foreign family.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi disclosed the incident on Wednesday, September 16, saying the Kenyan obtained the phone number of a member of the governing family in the unnamed country and subjected it to a tactic used by Kenyan youths during the protests.
Mudavadi linked the incident to the "Toa number yake asalimiwe" campaign, during which phone numbers belonging to targeted individuals were circulated online, leading to a surge of calls and text messages.
“You remember when there was a Gen Z protest about taxes in 2024. Some of you were in public spaces. I am sure you must have come across what was ‘Toa number yake asalimiwe’,” Mudavadi stated.
The CS explained that once a person's phone number was made public, members of the public could easily access it and overwhelm the individual with calls and messages.
According to Mudavadi, the Kenyan, who was living in a country with a sizeable population of Kenyans working abroad, adopted a similar strategy after obtaining the phone number of a member of the foreign governing family.
The Kenyan reportedly used technology to trace the person's number before mobilising people to bombard it with calls and messages, replicating the online campaign witnessed during Kenya's 2024 protests.
The action, however, drew the attention of authorities in the foreign country, triggering investigations into the incident.
Mudavadi said investigators subsequently used technology to trace the Kenyan, leading to their arrest, prosecution and eventual sentencing to three years in prison.
The CS did not reveal the identity of the Kenyan, the country where the incident occurred or the member of the governing family who was allegedly targeted.
He said the Kenyan government had intervened through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to provide consular assistance and explore avenues for the case to be reviewed.
“Now the government of Kenya, through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is busy offering consular services trying to mitigate this case, to see how his matter can be heard afresh and get home,” Mudavadi said.
Mudavadi added that the government was exploring possible ways of assisting the Kenyan despite the sentence already imposed by the foreign court.
Vantage Ke could not immediately and independently verify the identity of the Kenyan or the country where the individual is reportedly serving the sentence.
