Activist Morara Kebaso freed on bail as lawyers term charge defective

Accountability activist Morara Kebaso has been released on a Sh50,000 cash bail to await a court's decision on whether he will answer to charges of cyber harassment levelled against him by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).

Kebaso was on Tuesday morning brought to Milimani Law Courts where Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina granted the cash bail. Defence lawyers led by senior counsel Martha Karua dismissed the charges sheet as defective and asked the magistrate to throw out the case. Onyina will make a ruling on the matter on October 4.

Kebaso is facing charges of cyber harassment, contrary to Section 27 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act of 2018. He is accused of knowingly posting false information against two individuals.

In the post on his X account, Kebaso says one of the two individuals approached the other for more money to fund his campaign and the other individual used his properties as security to take loans to help him.

The ODPP says Kebaso posted this content, which he knew was false and calculated to tarnish and discredit the reputation of one of the individuals.

But his lawyers argued that it is not clear from the charge sheet who among the two individuals is the complainant and urged the court to dismiss the charge against him.

They also argued that for failure to give sufficient information that discloses an offence that an accused person can respond to, the charge sheet should be considered defective.

Lawyer Willis Otieno said the charge sheet discloses an issue of defamation, which he argues is not criminal, and that any of the two individuals who feels their reputation has been ruined by the activist's post should seek redress in an appropriate court.