Patrick Safari aka ‘Modern Corps’ arrested and charged for ‘annoying tweet’

Prison officer Patrick Safari popularly known as modern corps, @moderncorps on Twitter was on Monday arraigned in a Lamu court and charged with the infamous section 29 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act ‘misuse of licensed telecommunications system’ for annoying a police officer, Chrispus Mutali.

Safari who uses his account to tweet a lot about security issues is based in Maralal, Samburu County. He was picked by the District Criminal Investigations Officer (DCIO) Samburu and taken to Mlolongo where he spent the night before being picked up by Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officers from Malindi where he also spent the night in cell before being finally taken to Lamu where he also spent the night before being charged on Monday, 27th of July 2015.

He is accused to have sent a false tweet involving Bothai police vehicle. The complainant is Chrispus Mutali, a senior superintendent of police and coordinating commander in Lamu County.

Bothai police vehicle was heading to hindi, lamu county with 6 officers when they were hit by a landmine.5 have been rescued bt 1 is missing

— modern kenyan corps (@moderncorps) July 13, 2015

The Kenya Information and Communications Act defines a telecommunications system as

“telecommunication system” means a system for the conveyance, through the agency of electric, magnetic, electro-magnetic, electro-chemical or electro-mechanical energy, of—

i. speech, music and other sounds;

ii. visual images;

iii. data

iv. signals serving for the impartation (whether as between persons and persons, things and things or persons and things) of any matter otherwise than in the form of sound, visual images or data; or

v.  signals serving for the activation or control of machinery or apparatus and includes any cable for the distribution of anything falling within (i) to (iv) above

b) sends a message that he knows to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another person,

commits an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand shillings, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or to both.

The police officers have confiscated his phone, laptop, ATM card and some receipts that were in his possession.

The police left him without any cash or means of communication. He was saved by a colleague in the prison who gave him his phone and he called his family. The family managed to raise and send him sh50, 000 which he paid as cash bail and was released. He had an option of paying sh100, 000 bond or sh50, 000 cash bail.

The case is set for hearing on 27th of August 2015.