NAIROBI, Kenya,May 24 – A heated online exchange has erupted between Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Homa Bay Township MP Peter Kaluma over claims of government surveillance and online harassment linked to the Kenya Kwanza administration’s alleged use of artificial intelligence to monitor opposition voices.
The row began when Senator Sifuna accused President William Ruto’s government of deploying AI-driven bots to intimidate critics on social media.
“Instead of fixing the people’s problems, Ruto thinks AI will help him win back popular support by tracking my online activity and sending me bots to harass me,” posted Sifuna.
“It isn’t me who gave the KK Government a bad name. They did it themselves.”
Sifuna backed his claims by sharing an excerpt from a local daily that reported the existence of government-linked software allegedly tracking opposition figures, including political commentator Gabriel Oguda, Azimio TV, Sifuna himself, and digital strategist Pauline Njoroge.
According to the report, Njoroge’s content on issues such as Central Bank borrowing had the widest online reach, particularly in Central Kenya (40%), followed by Rift Valley (25%), Nairobi (20%), and Coast (15%).
It added that more than one million posts around key issues like taxation, fuel prices, and the economy had reached over 23 million people and caused “significant reputational damage to the government.”
MP Kaluma, a vocal defender of the broad-based administration, dismissed Sifuna’s claims with derision, firing back.
“You are too small to be tracked by President William Ruto; don’t overrate yourself my friend! Why would the President track someone who is nothing without the ODM party?”
The spat underscores growing concerns about political surveillance, digital manipulation, and freedom of expression in Kenya.
Earlier, government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura asserted that the government is keen on amending the Cybercrimes Act to combat what he calls a growing spread of misinformation online. Mwaura underscored the need for robust regulatory framework to maintain civility at the heights of online communications
