Moi student in court over Head of State ‘Body’ post

David Ooga Mokaya before Milimani magistrate court September 8,2025

The case of David Ooga Mokaya, a Moi University student accused of publishing false information about President William Ruto’s death, was on Monday, September 8, heard before Milimani Law Courts Senior Principal Magistrate Ben Mark Ekhubi.

The hearing brought to the stand a senior police officer, a Safaricom official and a cybercrime expert, with their testimonies strongly contested by the defence.

Chief Inspector Bosco Kisau told the court that while in the company of three other officers, he headed to Eldoret, where Mokaya was arrested.

Kisau also said he identified himself to the student, explained the reason for the arrest, and signed an inventory of the items seized.

During cross-examination, however, defence lawyers Danstan Omari and Shadrack Wamboi pressed him on whether he could prove these actions, and he conceded he had no documentation in court to back his claims.

“The communication into the death of the President should come from an official government officer, is that true?” Wamboi asked Kisau, who confirmed that it was the case.

Omari also challenged whether the disputed social media post explicitly stated that the President was dead. In response, Kisau told the magistrate: “There is a body but not dead body.”

“The wording had no ‘dead body’ on it, and a live body could leave, it is not a must that it be dead,” Omari clarified.

The court also heard from Safaricom liaison officer Daniel Khamisi, who testified that he had received a formal request from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to provide phone records and registration details linked to Mokaya.

Khamisi also stated that he complied and shared the requested information with investigators.

The defence, however, objected to the testimony, arguing that the data was obtained without a court order and therefore amounted to a violation of Mokaya’s rights.

Cybercrime expert Ezra Koech added that he was tasked with analysing Mokaya’s X account in relation to the controversial post.

He told the court that while he could examine the account activity, he was unable to establish whether the image used in the post had been artificially generated or produced by an individual.

His inability to draw a definitive conclusion further fuelled the defence’s claims that the evidence lacked certainty.

Earlier in the case, forensic analyst Boniface Machibi had testified that he examined a Samsung Galaxy A23 smartphone and a laptop seized from Mokaya, where he recovered three user accounts and a screenshot of the November 13, 2024, post, along with files from a folder labelled DVR that matched the timestamp of the publication.

Machibi, however, admitted that he could not confirm who owned or used the devices, stating: “The data is linked only to the gadgets.”

Defence lawyer Omari dismissed the testimonies as inconclusive, stressing that no direct link had been established between Mokaya and the gadgets in question.

He also argued that the wording of the post itself was ambiguous and should not be treated as a declaration of the President’s death.

Omari urged the court to consider Mokaya’s status as a student, noting that the case had disrupted his academic obligations at Moi University.

After listening to the witnesses, Senior Principal Magistrate Ekhubi adjourned the matter to October 21, 2025, when the investigating officer is expected to take the stand.

The case arises from a November 2024 post on X alleging that President William Ruto’s body had been moved from Lee Funeral Home.

The message went viral and prompted the DCI to investigate, leading to the arrest of Moi University student David Ooga Mokaya in Eldoret.

Mokaya was later charged with publishing false information under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act. The case has since drawn public interest for its political sensitivity.