Ruto ally says Telegram account was hacked before Kenyan election
Strategist says he noticed ‘increased activity’, after revelations about activities of a disinformation unit
A senior strategist with close links to Kenya’s president, William Ruto, has publicly acknowledged that his Telegram account was infiltrated in the lead-up to last year’s election.
Dennis Itumbi told the Star newspaper that he had noticed “increased activity” on his Telegram last year but called it “inconsequential”.
The admission followed the publication of an investigation by the Guardian and 29 media partners into the activities of a hacking and disinformation specialist named Tal Hanan, a former Israeli special forces operative who with a team of associates sells his services in order to sway democratic elections.
The investigation found that Hanan used hacking techniques to get into the Telegram and Gmail accounts of political advisers close to Ruto, including Itumbi, before last year’s election.
