By Benadeta Mwaura - Reporter
Kenya, August 12, 2026 - Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) Director-General Silas Kinoti is facing a KSh5.2 million counterclaim from a social-media account manager in a dispute over the management and control of his X account.
The dispute is before the Milimani Commercial Court, after Kinoti sued Eugene Mokua seeking orders requiring him to surrender the credentials of the X account and stop accessing or operating it.
Kinoti says he engaged Mokua around June 2025 to manage, administer and operate his X account, including creating and publishing content, engaging followers and monitoring interactions.
According to court documents, the engagement was based on an alleged relationship of trust, with Mokua expected to operate the account for Kinoti's benefit and under his direction.
Kinoti says he later terminated the arrangement and demanded the return of the account credentials.
He alleges that Mokua refused to surrender the login details despite repeated demands, arguing that continued access could result in members of the public attributing statements made through the account to him and his office.
The KURA boss says the agreed management fee was KSh3 million, which he maintains he paid in full after an initial KSh2 million payment was acknowledged. He is also seeking reimbursement of KSh75,000 that he says was paid for the account's premium subscription.
Mokua, however, disputes Kinoti's account of the agreement.
He says the arrangement was captured through WhatsApp exchanges dated June 17, 2025, rather than being merely an oral engagement as Kinoti claims.
Mokua has filed a KSh5.2 million counterclaim, arguing that Kinoti remains indebted to him for services provided. He says he retained the account details pending settlement of the outstanding amount.
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The services and expenses he cites include nine months of account management, social-media promotion, news publications, a tender application and Uber transport, among other costs incurred while working for Kinoti.
His lawyers had initially demanded KSh8.1 million for services they said had been rendered before the claim was reduced to the KSh5.2 million counterclaim now before the court.
Mokua has also denied promising to help Kinoti obtain a verified checkmark on his X account.
The case highlights an increasingly important issue as public officials and institutions rely on social-media platforms to communicate with citizens: who legally controls an official's account when its day-to-day operation has been outsourced to a private individual?
In Kinoti's case, the account is used to communicate with members of the public, government agencies and other stakeholders about his official work, making control over its credentials particularly significant.
The dispute also illustrates the potential legal complications that can arise when professional social-media management arrangements are negotiated through informal digital communication rather than detailed written contracts defining ownership, access, payment and what happens when the relationship ends.
For now, the court is yet to determine whether Mokua is entitled to the KSh5.2 million he is claiming or whether Kinoti is entitled to the orders seeking control of the account.
The matter is scheduled to return to court on February 18, 2027.