
A court has dismissed charges against web developer and activist Rose Njeri, ruling that the charges against her did not constitute an offense.
Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo stated that the two charges were ambiguous and failed to clearly outline an offense. As a result, the court rejected the charges and ordered Njeri’s release.
Njeri’s legal team requested the return of her electronic devices, which included a hard drive, mobile phone, flash drives, and a CPU, which had been seized during her arrest.
The prosecution informed the court that the items were still being processed by the cyber crime unit but would be returned once the process was completed.
Njeri’s defense argued that the ongoing processing of the devices violated privacy laws. The court ruled that all the confiscated items must be returned to Njeri.
The charges against Njeri were related to unauthorized interference with computer systems, under Section 16 of the Computer Misuse and Cyber Crime Act.
When she first appeared in court, her legal team, including former Chief Justice David Maraga, DAP-K party leader Eugene Wamalwa, and Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, argued that the charge sheet was flawed and that Njeri should not be required to plead.
They also requested that she be released on personal bond or other reasonable conditions.
Njeri was presented in court for creating a website called “Civic Email,” which allowed Kenyans to reject the finance bill with the click of a button .
Njeri had been arrested on Friday, May 30, for a tweet revealing the creation of the site. “I wrote a simple program that allows you to reject the Finance Act 2025 with a single click. Click below to send your objection,” she said in her tweet.
She was released on June 20, and the court ordered the return of her seized gadgets.
By Were Kelly