Mr. Henry K. Rotich, Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury speaking at the Governance Gap forum hosted by the World Bank Group in 2016. “100616_Governance Gap_MC Atrium” by World Bank Photo Collection is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Kenyans online have, for the last three days now, been holding online protests against the decision by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve a $2.34bn loan facility for Kenya urging the multilateral agency to review its decision. Using the hashtags #StopLoaningKenya and #StopGivingKenyaLoans, Kenyans rejected the loan and expressed their frustrations with the IMF for approving additional debt in what they see as another national debt repayment burden, at a time when corruption and misuse of public funds has escalated. This current loan is intended to fund a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kenyans on FB and Twitter rejection of IMF lending Kenya government’s more money is a fascinating sign of things to come in global finance. Government might not care, but IMF is definitely sensitive to bad PR. — Grant (@GrantBrooke) April 5, 2021 In the past 12 months alone, Kenya has received $6.4bn in the form of grants and loans for COVID-19 response, according to a list compiled by Mary Mukami, an accountant by profession and a social media user, from press coverage. 704 Billion in just one year for COVID Response? Kenyans demand an explanation from GOK!!!! Lazima #Kijulikane pic.twitter.com/Wam5K4vbtP — Hustler 031 (@_Hustler031) April 5, 2021 While many directed their frustrations towards the IMF, most were angry at President Uhuru Kenyatta and his government for continuing to burden Kenyans with bad loans and pushing the country deeper into debt, despite increased corruption and lack of accountability. Using screenshots of newspaper headlines, many users on Twitter gave their numerous reasons and evidence why IMF should stop loaning Kenya. #StopGivingKenyaLoans #ImpactOfTheLoans Need we say more pic.twitter.com/7bUXkbtJUs — Cathyy (@yo_njeri) April 7, 2021 On 7th April, as online protests continued, Kenyan activist Mutemi Kiama was arrested for allegedly creating and publishing a poster warning the IMF against giving President Uhuru a new loan Kiama, who tweets using @MutemiWaKiama and @WanjikuRevolt, published a public notice poster on his twitter handle with a disclaimer from Kenyan citizens cautioning global lenders against transacting with the president and his vice president. ???#UnlockOurCountry #StopLoaningKenya! pic.twitter.com/LFE0IyG83t — Mwarimū Mūtemi wa Kīama (@MutemiWaKiama) April 6, 2021 The following day, Kiama was presented in court facing charges of contravening various provisions of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act, including false publication. However, Kenya’s high Court dismissed the case made by the state prosecution, and declined to grant 14 days to gather evidence. Despite the absence of any cause to retain him, the court ordered the release of Kiama on a cash bail of $5,000USD. COURT GRANTS activist Mutemi Kiama Sh500,000 cash bail; orders him to report daily to the investigating officer for the next 10 days.https://t.co/76mRXJLqfD pic.twitter.com/1gOT206sTt — Nation Breaking News (@NationBreaking) April 8, 2021 Fellow Kenyan activist, Boniface Mwangi, called to question the decision by the Kenyan High court, describing it as a “loud threat” to all Kenyan social media users against criticizing the government. The police don't have any evidence that Kiama committed any crime, they're still investigating. How then does a magistrate ask Kiama to post a cash bail of 500,000?That bail is a loud threat to all Kenya social media users,criticise the government at your own risk!Dark days ahead pic.twitter.com/B3kKpxqIr6 — Boniface Mwangi (@bonifacemwangi) April 8, 2021 The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) also condemned the unjustified targeting of activists calling for an end to it. The high court has dismissed an application by the prosecution for continued detention of Mutemi Kiama for 14 days over the frivolous charge of posting an anti -IMF loan poster. He has been released on a cash bail of Ksh 500,000. Unjustified targeting of activists must end. pic.twitter.com/acvCPX01Rs — KHRC (@thekhrc) April 8, 2021 As virtual protests entered their second day, a section of Kenyans hijacked the comments section of IMF's ongoing Facebook Live series that air press conferences and webinars on the World Economic outlook, and posted the message “STOP LOANING KENYA”, in a bid to further petition the lender to withdraw the facility. Posts published on IMF's Facebook page since the online protests began have garnered an average of 2K comments, all from Kenyans pleading with the IMF.