Ignore fake letter supposedly from Kenyan police summoning the country's politicians over an activist's murder
IN SHORT: Just days after Kenyan political activist Richard Otieno was murdered near his home by unknown people, a letter started circulating on social media issuing summons over the death. But the police have said the letter is fake.
A letter dated 21 January 2025 and using the letterhead of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is circulating on social media in Kenya.
It claims that the DCI, the branch of the Kenyan police that investigates serious crime, has summoned three members of the county assembly (MCAs) from Nakuru county and an employee of Safaricom, a telecoms company in Kenya, over the murder of a political activist.
The activist, identified as Richard Otieno, was reportedly brutally murdered near his home in Nakuru county on 18 January. Nakuru is about 150 kilometres to the north-west of Kenya's capital Nairobi.
Otieno was a vocal critic of both the national government and Molo constituency member of parliament (MP) Kuria Kimani. Molo is one of the constituencies in the county. Kimani has denied any involvement in the murder.
An MCA is a member of the county assembly. Each of Kenya's 47 counties is governed by its own assembly.
The MCAs mentioned in the letter are Joseph Ngware (Molo ward), John Mwangi (Turi) and Njuguna Mwaura (Elburgon). The fourth person named is David Nganga.
The death sparked violent protests in the area with local media outlets reporting that protesters forcefully took the body from a morgue in the county. They were headed for the MP's home in protest but police intervened.
According to the letter, the four are the ones who mobilised the general public to take the body, hence "tampering with evidence".
It also claims that intelligence reports had indicated that the four had disagreed with the slain activist "regarding his financial standpoint" and that he had been under their payroll "but had not received his stipend thus making him struggle".
"We are aware that he had planned to expose you and thus this could be a plausible motive to commit the crime or be accomplices to the gruesome murder," it reads in part.
The letter orders the four to appear at the DCI headquarters to "shed more light on the circumstances surrounding Richard's death".
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Other users have posted the same claim without the letter.
But how authentic is the claim and the letter? We checked.
Clues of fake letter
The casual manner in which the letter addresses the four is the first hint it could be fake. Unlike typical DCI letters and statements that rely on preliminary findings from investigations to make such summons, this letter directly accuses the four listed of participating in the chaos, without indicating whether investigations had concluded so. This seems unprofessional.
The shocking murder of the activist attracted local media attention and condemnation from politicians, including former deputy president Rigathi Gachagua. It is suspicious that despite the letter addressing such a sensitive matter, its contents have not been reported on by local media.
DCI marks the letter as fake
On 21 January, the DCI posted the letter on its social media pages with a "fake" banner across it.
The post accompanying the letter reads: "FAKE NEWS ALERT!".
