How The Government of Kenya is Spying on Your Phone: An Urgent Exposé of State Surveillance

During the recent Gen Z-led protests that shook William Ruto personally and his administration to its very core, many Kenyans found themselves asking a chilling question: How did the police track them down so easily, even in the supposed safety of their homes?

Scores of activists and protesters were abducted, many never to be seen again. Suspicion quickly fell on Safaricom and Kenya Power, accused of handing over personal information to a rogue state. But the truth may be even more disturbing—and far simpler than most would imagine...

In a revelation that will shock every Kenyan, your private communications—phone calls, texts, and even your physical location—is being monitored without your knowledge. The Kenyan government has been accused of engaging in widespread surveillance of its citizens, using sophisticated tools provided by Israeli cyber-espionage firm Circles. This disturbing information was uncovered in a damning report by Citizen Lab, a digital rights watchdog based at the University of Toronto.

The report, titled Running in Circles: Uncovering the Clients of Cyber-Espionage Firm Circles, reveals how the Kenyan government is among at least 25 countries that have exploited vulnerabilities in the global mobile phone system to spy on citizens. This story isn’t just about privacy; it’s about the misuse of power, the potential for political repression, and the gross violation of human rights in the name of “national security.”

The Mechanics of Government Surveillance: How Kenya is Snoopin' on You

It is essential to understand how this espionage works. Unlike traditional spyware that requires hacking into devices, the tools from Circles work by exploiting flaws in the global telecommunications infrastructure. Circles offers governments the capability to intercept communications directly from local mobile networks, effectively sidestepping the need for complex hacking operations. This means your phone does not need to be compromised by malicious software to be monitored – the surveillance happens entirely in the background, unbeknownst to you.

Through Circles' technology, governments like Kenya’s gain access to calls, text messages, and the real-time location of mobile phones. According to the report, the system can either be physically connected to a country's local telecom infrastructure or operate through a separate system known as the "Circles Cloud," which links with telecom companies across the globe. In Kenya's case, the report identified a system within the country, likely tied to its intelligence apparatus. This means Kenyan authorities have direct access to these spying tools, enabling mass surveillance on an unimaginable scale.

Circles and NSO: Partners in Global Espionage

What is even more disconcerting is Circles' affiliation with the notorious Israeli firm NSO Group, best known for creating the infamous Pegasus spyware. Pegasus is a tool so sophisticated that it can infiltrate a target's phone, access their messages, track their movements, and even remotely activate the phone’s camera and microphone. While Pegasus requires a user to unknowingly click on a malicious link, Circles’ technology operates without even that small barrier.

The Citizen Lab report places Kenya alongside other rogue regimes accused of human rights abuses, such as those in Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates. These governments have used similar spyware to target political dissidents, journalists, human rights activists, and even foreign diplomats. The implications of Kenya’s involvement are chilling.

Who is Being Targeted?

While the full extent of Kenya’s surveillance operations remains unclear, previous investigations revealed troubling trends. Pegasus, the spyware suite linked to NSO, was traced to Kenya as early as 2017, targeting individuals on Safaricom's network and through an enterprise provider, SimbaNET. Citizen Lab identified a covert operation under the codename “GRANDLACS,” which has also been active in Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. It is believed that this operation has a political bent, using domains such as politicalpress.org to lure targets into unknowingly installing the spyware.

This revelation raises an alarming question: Who exactly are the targets of the Kenyan government’s surveillance? Given the political nature of Pegasus, the targets are likely to be individuals critical of the state: journalists, bloggers, activists, opposition politicians, and whistleblowers. In a country where dissent has often been met with state repression, this kind of covert monitoring is a potent tool for controlling and silencing opposition voices.

The International Backlash Against Pegasus

The implications of Kenya’s espionage efforts go beyond its borders. NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been the subject of global condemnation for its role in political surveillance. In 2019, the messaging app WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook sued NSO under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), accusing the firm of helping governments infiltrate the phones of over 1,400 users across four continents. These users included diplomats, political activists, and senior government officials.

Kenya’s use of Circles, which is linked to NSO, places it in the company of governments with a track record of human rights abuses. In countries like Mexico and Saudi Arabia, spyware like Pegasus has been used to monitor—and in some cases, target—individuals who have spoken out against corruption, violence, and repression. By participating in this surveillance network, Kenya risks aligning itself with regimes that have used similar technology to intimidate, suppress, and even eliminate critics.

What Does This Mean for You?

If you’re a Kenyan citizen, this revelation should leave you deeply concerned. The very idea that your government is listening in on your private conversations, reading your texts, and tracking your movements without any legal oversight is an affront to democracy. It calls into question the integrity of the state’s institutions, the protection of citizens’ rights, and the boundaries of government power.

Kenya’s involvement with Circles and Pegasus is symptomatic of a broader global problem: The use of cyber-espionage to stifle dissent. As we’ve seen in other countries, this technology has been used not to protect citizens but to maintain control over them. With such powerful tools at the government’s disposal, how can we trust that our privacy, our freedoms, and even our lives are truly safe?

The Future of Surveillance in Kenya

As of now, the Kenyan government has not issued a statement regarding these allegations. However, it is imperative that this matter be taken seriously by civil society, lawmakers, and international watchdogs. Kenya's intelligence community must be held accountable, and strict regulations should be put in place to ensure that surveillance is used only within the confines of the law.

The international community has already begun to act. In the wake of the Pegasus revelations, Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have called for a global moratorium on spyware sales. But this may not be enough. For countries like Kenya, where government transparency and accountability are sorely lacking, a more robust response is needed. Public pressure, investigative journalism, and legal action may be the only ways to stop this unlawful intrusion into our private lives.

Demand Answers, Demand Change

As citizens, we must demand answers. The Kenyan government must come clean about its use of surveillance technologies and be transparent about the scope and purpose of these operations. We cannot afford to remain passive while our privacy is compromised and our fundamental rights are undermined.

This story is far from over. With each passing day, more details may emerge about how Kenya is using tools like Circles and Pegasus to spy on its citizens. But the real question is: How much more are we willing to tolerate before we demand change?

The future of our democracy, our freedoms, and our very right to privacy are at stake. It’s time to act.

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Sources:

Citizen Lab, Amnesty International, WhatsApp, Facebook