This archive report was first published on 15 October 2019.
On October 15, 2019, the office of public prosecutions consolidated charges against blogger Dennis Itumbi and Samuel Gateri, who were earlier charged separately over the Deputy President William Ruto's 'fake' assassination letter.
Itumbi and Gateri denied the charges before chief magistrate Martha Mutuku on May 30, 2019.
They are accused of publishing a false statement with the intent to cause anxiety to the general public, specifically a letter dated May 30, 2019.
Itumbi was initially charged on July 22 with making a false document without authority and publishing a false statement.
He is also accused of making a false document purporting it to be a genuine letter from Interior CS Fred Matiang'i.
The former State House Director of digital and his co-accused are also charged with reprogramming their mobile phones.
Gateri had initially been listed as a witness against Itumbi but later claimed detectives had coerced him into admitting he had talked to Ruto over Itumbi's La Mada Hotel assassination plot case.
The 'fake' letter claimed Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho held a meeting with several cabinet secretaries from Mt Kenya region to plot Ruto's assassination, a claim Kibicho later disowned.
