Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi said on Wednesday that he is concerned for his life after officials put spyware on his phone following his arrest last year.
In July 2025, police searched Mwangi’s home and business, seizing his mobile phones and computer hard drives and accused him of “facilitation of terrorist acts”.
Citizen Lab at Toronto University discovered on Tuesday that a monitoring tool developed by Israeli business Cellebrite was placed on Mwangi’s phone without his permission.
Law enforcement organisations around the world utilise Cellebrite’s program to unlock devices and search for evidence.
Amnesty has raised concerns over its use in targeting journalists and activists.
According to the Citizen Lab report, Kenyan police gained access to everything on Mwangi’s phone including “messages, private files, personal documents, financial information, passwords, and other sensitive data”.
Mwangi told AFP on Wednesday that he had “life-threatening concerns” and felt “violated” by the actions.
He stressed that scores of people had been killed or disappeared by police since massive anti-government protests in 2024.
“I feel I could be a target for elimination,” Mwangi said.
“Now the government has an overview of who is in my inner circle, and I fear for their safety too.”
There was a spate of abductions targeting government critics in the wake of the 2024 protests. The government vowed an investigation but has yet to provide any findings.
Mwangi has said he will run for the presidency in 2027, and has been at the forefront of protests against President William Ruto’s government and extrajudicial killings in the east African nation.
“The level of targeted harassment and violations has increased since I announced I’m running for president,” he told AFP.
Mwangi expressed concern that his presidential campaign team could also be under surveillance.
AFP has contacted the Kenya police for comment.
Mwangi, a former photojournalist, has been arrested several times.
He said he would use Citizen Lab’s findings in court to challenge the criminal charges he still faces from his arrest last year.
“We will ask the court to order the government not to leak the contents of my phone online especially my family pictures,” he said.
Last year, Citizen Lab also found that spyware was installed on the devices of four Kenyan filmmakers arrested over links to a BBC documentary on security service killings during the 2024 protests.