STUDENT SUFFERS JAIL TERM FOR INSULTING KENYAN PRESIDENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

 25-year-old political science student at Moi
University has been sentenced to a year in
prison for insulting Kenyan president Uhuru
Kenyatta on Facebook.
Alan Wadi Okengo, also known as Lieutenant
Wadi, has also been told to pay a fine of
$2,200 (£1,400) or serve a second year in jail.
The posts were reportedly in opposition to the
new security law, which was signed by the
president a fortnight ago despite outcry from
the opposition in Parliament.
Mr. Okengo pleaded guilty to two charges of
hate speech for using “unprintable insults”
against the president and also for demeaning
authority of a public officer.
The charge against him stated that “the
message he sent was calculated to to bring into
contempt the lawful authority of the President
of the Republic of Kenya.”
Kenyan website, The Daily Nation reported that
Okengo was arrested when he tried to sneak out
of the country on New Year Eve brought back to
Nairobi CID headquarters where he was
interrogated.
He reportedly told the magistrate, Ann Kaguru,
that he was prepared to “apologised to
President Kenyatta personally if he was not
handed down a custodial sentence.”
However the magistrate, in announcing the
sentence, said “the offence is serious and a
deterrent penalty is called for to serve as a
warning to others abusing the social media
forums.”