How message on WhatsApp group landed man in court

A businessman in Woodley, Nairobi, has been arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Gerald Mutiso of Makadara Law Courts for allegedly getting involved in a cyber harassment crime.

Davíd Gachago is said to have committed the crime on a WhatsApp group dubbed Woodley Residents Welfare Society at unknown place in Kenya on March 16 this year.

In the charge sheet presented in court the message read: “Yes Ngatia/ Fatima I am thrilled we thwarted your plans of having David (person of poor health) locked up as much as you can influence his arraignment, on Friday hoping he will spend the weekend in the cooler, pole sana he slept home.”

The Message as read out in court was directed to the complainant, Peter Mureithi Ngatia. The said post is believed to have caused fear of violence and detrimentally affected Ngatia as it was grossly offensive to him and the people of the estate.

Prior to the incident, a resident who is at the center of conflict David Sosa, is alleged to have framed Ngatia who is the complainant alluding that he had earlier threatened to kill him. Sosa is said to have reported to authorities the information but is said to have turned out to be false.

Sosa was arrested and recorded a statement with the police before his arraignment and was later released by a Kibera court on a cash bail.

Some Woodley residents, led by the accused, contributed money towards his cash bail. The accused in his argument accused Ngatia of influencing authorities to arrest Sosa.

The accused then wrote trail of messages on the WhatsApp group blaming the complainant (Ngatia) for his friend’s woes.

He alluded that the complainant worked hard to see one of them spend time in custody over the weekend. The complainant reported the matter at the Shauri Moyo Police Station.

Since March, the accused has been summoned to the police station in vain until recently when he was arrested.

The complainant said he was aggrieved since the accused alluded that he influenced the arrest and prosecution of Sosa.

The accused was granted a cash bail of Sh100,000.