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Teacher charged with bullying TSC boss

judge

Milimani chief magistrate Ms Susan Shitubi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

A primary school teacher has been charged with cyberbullying the head of the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Dr Nancy Macharia.

Mr Jeremiah Mwawuganga Samuel was arraigned before Milimani chief magistrate Ms Susan Shitubi.

He denied two counts of cyber harassment and publishing false information in the TSC Facebook account claiming that the TSC boss was dead.

Mwawuganga was charged with posting false information on January 16, 2022, on TSC's Facebook page alleging that Macharia had passed on and her body found lying in her bed.

According to the charge sheet, Mwawuganga wrote: "Breaking news, Nancy Macharia is dead. RIP Macharia...oh it was just a dream, may it be so."

The prosecution told the court that he posted the remarks knowing it was false and calculated to cause fear and panic to Dr Macharia and her family.

He was also charged with a second count of publishing false information contrary to the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act, where on the same dates, he knowingly published false information through his Facebook account on the TSC page.

Through lawyer Ruth Tanui, the teacher asked for reasonable bail terms saying that he was the sole breadwinner and has been cooperating with investigators.

The magistrate ordered the accused to deposit a bond of Sh650,000 or a cash bail of Sh100,000.

The case was fixed for mention February 9, 2022, for pretrial directions.

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