CA denies involvement in data leak linked to Ojwang's death

Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) headquarters, Nairobi. [Jenipher Wachie, Standard]

The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has strongly refuted claims circulating on social media suggesting that it played a role in providing law enforcement with the location data of the late Albert Ojwang.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Authority expressed "grave concern" over what it termed as misleading and factually incorrect allegations. 

CA emphasized that it had no involvement whatsoever in matters related to Ojwang’s whereabouts or the circumstances surrounding his death.

"As a regulator, CA does not have access to real-time location data of mobile subscribers. We do not initiate, direct, or participate in the operational use of data held by licensed telecommunications service providers," CA stated.

The agency further noted that any data requests from law enforcement are subject to strict legal processes, including judicial oversight.

"This includes judicial oversight and is limited to instances where there is a valid court order or lawful request as per the law," the Authority stressed.

CA reiterated that its role is strictly limited to regulatory oversight and compliance enforcement, not active data surveillance.

Earlier on Wednesday, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja had told the Senate that Ojwang's social media posts were deemed defamatory and significant enough to trigger investigations under the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act.

According to Kanja, the case was assigned to the DCI’s cybercrime unit which then sought verification from the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) on whether Lagat was under investigation.

The team also asked the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to trace and preserve posts from the X account suspected to have shared the defamatory content.