Nuru Okanga acquitted in case he was accused of asking Gachagua to shoot Ruto
By Zipporah Ngwatu, January 20, 2026A Nairobi court has acquitted Nuru Maloba Okanga of three different counts that include publishing false, defamatory and threatening information online.
In the 2024 case, Nuru was accused of asking the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua to shoot President William Ruto.
In her ruling on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, Milimani Principal Magistrate Rose Ndombi cleared Nuru of the charges, stating that the prosecution did not prove their case against him.
“Pursuant to section 210 of the criminal procedure code, this court finds that the accused person, Nuru Okanga Maloba, has no case to answer, is hereby acquitted of all three counts, and shall be set free forthwith unless lawfully held,” Magistrate Ndombi ruled.
According to the charge sheet, Nuru is accused of publishing false information contrary to section 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act No. 5 of 2018.
How the charge sheet read
“On diverse dates between June 7 and 10, 2024, at an unknown place within the Republic of Kenya, jointly with others not before the court, knowingly and unlawfully published false, defamatory and threatening information online, while using the TikTok account dubbed ‘Riba News @ribanews’ and the Siasa TV KE backup and the YouTube channel/Google website account dubbed ‘RIBA NEWS @ribanews’, posted a captioned video to wit, ‘Nuru Okanga Rigathi Gachagua Piga Ruto Risasi’,” part of the charge sheet read.
Further, the prosecution states that the said statements were well calculated to cause fear and panic among the citizens of Kenya and destroy the reputation of the executive leadership of the Republic of Kenya.
In the second count, the prosecution stated that on June 12, 2024, while at an unknown place jointly with others not in court, they knowingly and unlawfully published false, defamatory and threatening information online while using the TikTok account dubbed Siasa_tv__backup and posted a captioned video, to wit, “Pilot wa Ruto adungwe shindani”, causing fear and panic among citizens of Kenya and destroying the reputation of the executive leaders of Kenya.
On the third count, the accused is charged with providing telecommunication services without a valid licence, contrary to section 24 of the Kenya Information and Communication Act No. 2 of 1998, CAP. 411A, 2022.
Nuru is said to have published the said videos, which was in contravention of the provision of a valid licence.