Activist Mwagodi freed on Sh0.5 million bond

 

Activist and online blogger Hanningtone Danson Mwagodi Mwabili appeared before Milimani Chief Magistrate on Feb 18, 2026. [Nancy Gitonga, Standard]

Activist and online blogger Hanningtone Danson Mwagodi Mwabili has been freed on a personal bond of Sh500,000 pending investigations into allegations of publishing false information online.

Milimani Chief Magistrate Teresia Nyangena freed the activist, who had been in custody for four days, after rejecting an application by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to hold him for seven additional days while police concluded their investigations.

"I find the state has not tendered compelling reasons in their application seeking to continue holding the suspect for seven more days to complete investigations. I therefore free Mwabili on a Sh500,000 personal bond," the magistrate ordered.

As conditions of his release, the court directed that he report to DCI headquarters as and when required by the investigating officer, and that he surrender his passport and all travel documents to the court.

Mwabili was brought before the court on Tuesday evening after the DCI presented him seeking a seven-day custodial order.

Court documents filed by the DCI indicate that Mwabili was arrested on the evening of Saturday, February 15, 2026, at the Lunga Lunga border point in Kwale County. He was initially booked at the Lunga Lunga Police Station pending collection by the DCI Headquarters Serious Crimes Unit (SCU) based in Nairobi.

He was subsequently transported by road to Mombasa, where he was held at the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Police Station, before DCI investigators travelled overnight from Nairobi to collect and transfer him to the capital.

In an application filed before the court, the DCI, acting through the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), sought to detain Mwabili for seven days to allow Chief Inspector Nickson Kinyua, an investigator attached to the DCI Serious Crimes Unit, to complete ongoing investigations into allegations of publishing false information online, contrary to Section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, Cap 79C, among other offences.

Detective Kinyua informed the court that investigators had yet to conclude their work, which includes a detailed forensic analysis of a Samsung A26 smartphone recovered at the time of Mwabili's arrest.

"Preliminary investigations have led to the discovery that the respondent is an activist-blogger who is very vocal online, propagating various ideologies and propaganda," Kinyua stated in his affidavit.

"Evidence gathered so far reveals that the respondent operates on social media under the X account, formerly known as Twitter, under the handle Elder@mwabilimwagodi, and has posted false, malicious, and derogatory content against state leadership."

The DCI simultaneously filed a separate application seeking court orders to compel the DCI Digital Forensic Laboratory to analyse, extract, and print evidential materials from the device, and to order Mwabili to disclose all passwords, codes, login credentials, and unlock IDs to facilitate a full cyber-forensic extraction of data.

"Investigations are incomplete since the DCI has not yet extracted data from the respondent's phone. Thereafter, the police will submit the investigation file to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a decision on whether to charge, a process that constitutionally falls within that office's mandate. This exercise is projected to take seven days, during which the activist's detention is sought," C.I. Kinyua stated.

DCI investigators further argued that Mwabili poses a significant flight risk, noting that before his arrest, he had been observed moving in and out of the country in a pattern investigator interpreted as an attempt to evade arrest.

They said this necessitated placing him under a movement control order with the Department of Immigration Services before he was eventually apprehended at the Lunga Lunga border crossing.

"The respondent is a flight risk, as evidenced by his previous movements, which were essentially attempts to evade arrest. Considering this, it is fair, just, and in the best interest of justice for this honourable court to grant the orders prayed," the DCI officer added.

Defence lawyers for Mwabili vehemently opposed the DCI's application, arguing that prolonging his custody without formal charges would infringe on his constitutional rights.

"Prolonged detention without charge violates the principles of personal liberty enshrined in the Constitution," one of his lawyers told the court, urging the magistrate to release the activist on bail and stressing that he was ready and willing to comply with all court-imposed conditions.

"Our client is prepared to meet any requirements the court sets. There is no justification for keeping him in custody while investigations are ongoing," the lawyers added.

The defence team also told the court that Mwabili had been arrested by immigration officers after he lawfully exited the Lunga Lunga border crossing while travelling to meet former employers in Dar es Salaam.

"The officers cited a red notice allegedly issued in early 2025 by investigator Michael Sang, attached to the DCI at Mazingira House, despite providing no information on the alleged offence or any formal charges," the defence team stated.