Kenyan national convicted for cyberstalking the DPP

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Standards, Utilities and Wildlife Court in Kampala has found a Kenyan National, Oloo Jared Akumu, guilty of cyberstalking Lady Justice Jane Francis Abodo, the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Utility Court Chief Magistrate, Gladys Kamasanyu convicted Akumu, a resident of Nyangoma division, Bondo district, Siaya County, Nyanza Province in Kenya on Tuesday.

In her judgment, Kamasanyu said that the testimony of four witnesses including Justice Abodo showed that Akumu used to send the complainants numerous threatening emails. The Court heard that between September 15th, 2021, and November 2nd, 2021, while in unknown places, Akumu willfully and repeatedly used his email address akumu4036@gmail.com to harass the DPP by sending threatening e-mails and attachments to her official email address.

According to the Magistrate, when Abodo received the emails and started reviewing them, she was afraid and worried for her life. This is because Akumu had threatened to print out her photos and pin them on billboards across East Africa such that everyone including President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who is Abodo’s appointing authority could know that she is a corrupt person.

The accused reportedly resorted to the threats following the theft of his vehicle and blamed the DPP for hiding his case file and subsequently denying him justice simply because of the advice she gave on the matter. After convicting the accused, State Attorneys Jonathan Muwaganya and Joan Keko who prosecuted the case asked for a deterrent sentence of five years arguing that such cases have been rampant in the country.

They argued that Akumu’s actions caused Abodo untold trauma and that he had confessed to sending the said emails to her when arrested by police. Akumu ran out of luck when Justice Abodo reported a case of offensive communication and cyberstalking at the Central Police Station in Kampala. Akumu was apprehended when he arrived in the country to follow up on his vehicle case around February 2022. Akumu, who is currently in Luzira prison will return to court on October 11th, 2022 for sentencing.

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