Kivutha Kibwana

In a grotesque twist of macabre irony, the Kenyan state has now decided a young person armed with a mere smartphone and, admittedly, bountiful wealth of satire, poses a greater peril to the Republic than corruption, terrorism, or economic ruin combined.

Twenty-two-year-old Titus Wekesa Sifuna from Bungoma County was arrested and charged with impersonating the President. His crime? Operating a Twitter account under the handle @ThiefThe5th with the display name “I Must Go,” and posting anti-Ruto sentiments.

Read that again. Not hacking into official government accounts such as e-Citizen. Not forging documents like a land title. Not spreading disinformation under the guise of official communication. But running an account so obviously a spoof that it takes twisted ingenuity to confuse it with genuine impersonation. I wondered- and one must be curious- who is the complainant?

Is there no longer elbow room in Kenya for burlesque? For irony? For criticism? For humour, however biting? Are we now a country whose leadership is so insecure or insensitive that satire is seen as sedition, and parody, political sabotage? Have echoes of repression reverberated that far and wide?

Let us be clear: no reasonable person - the man or woman in the Kawangware matatu omnibus - could mistake @ThiefThe5th for an official presidential account. It does not carry the blue verification badge of a state account. Its name is absurdly exaggerated. Its tone is openly critical. It uses language that would never pass the official scrutiny of State House. It is, in every way, a satirical account — symbolizing a long-standing tradition in democratic societies used to poke, prod, provoke, and correct the powerful.

Remember, in ancient Africa, the splashy palace comedian and the griot were allowed to, metaphorically speaking, undress the king so that he and commoners could see his warts and all. Successful kings had thick skins.

Remember once more, when buoyant Charlene “established” the Office of the First Daughter and her doting father was asked by a prying journalist to confirm whether such an office existed, he smilingly retorted, “Let the young lady enjoy her youth.” 

And so this is what makes Sifuna’s incarceration so dangerous—not just to one young Kenyan, but to all of us. This is not just an accidental overreach. It is an abuse of law. It is an insult to the Constitution and a waste of valuable prosecutorial and judicial time. The idea that a Twitter handle—created by an ordinary citizen without access to state resources or media machinery—can cause such panic at the highest levels of government is laughable, but simultaneously terrifying.

Under Kenya’s Penal Code (Chapter 63) impersonation or personation, to qualify as a crime, requires intent to deceive and defraud. It calls for evidence that someone deliberately sought to mislead the public into believing they were someone else—usually for gain or harm. This case fails that test on every count. Who has young Wekesa defrauded? What this sorrowful episode does is to prove the state is increasingly allergic to any genre of dissent. That it will use the criminal justice system to frighten and muzzle young people.

This young Kenyan should not be facing a judge or magistrate—he should be facing a Ministry of Education scholarship or the Public Service Commission Committee and offered a job. Because what he has demonstrated is not criminal intent, but critical thinking. Courage. Creativity. And a willingness to speak truth to power using the tools of his generation.

But the bigger tragedy here is not just the misuse of police time and public funds. It is the signal this matter sends to the youth of Kenya: that to question authority is to risk jail. That political expression is a privilege, not a right. That in Ruto’s Kenya, you are allowed to mock the high cost of living, but not the people who cause it. This is how democracies die—when fear replaces freedom, and humour is treated as heresy.

We must reject this dangerous path. We must defend free speech. Defend the right of young people to speak boldly, even foolishly as part of their learning curve, without fear of state reprisals.

Clearly if the government compromises or intimidates judicial officers, we open floodgates of miscarriage of justice. The judiciary must resist this countermanding of the law.  Because the moment we criminalize critique, we become no different from the regimes we once fought.

A word to the state and government: The way to deal with the youth is not to serve them violence at every turn. They simply yearn for jobs, dignity; indeed, a life worth living. When this simple menu is delivered, the youth will embrace their government and leaders. In my opinion, the country owes Kenyan youth a dialogue on the National Youth Empowerment Marshal Plan.

And to the gallant Bungoma young man, you are not alone. You are the voice of a generation. May your courage echo louder than the silence they tried to force upon you. Kenya needs your mind more than it needs their collective fear.

Professor Kivutha Kibwana is a distinguished Kenyan academic. His area of expertise is Law and Constitutionalism. He is also a human rights activist and politician. He served as the 1st Governor of Makueni County from 2013 to 2022 and a cabinet minister in the national government before that. He is currently a professor at Daystar University, where he leads its Master of Laws Programme.