Those Were Just Demo Screenshots, John Githongo Changes Tune

Days after alleging in a sworn affidavit that hackers were given access to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) databases and modified forms 34A, activist John Githongo now says the logs he gave as evidence were demo screenshots of how the server may be accessed and manipulated.

The supplementary affidavit was filed following the submission contained in president-elect William Ruto’s replying affidavit as well as those of Dennis Itumbi, Davis Chirchir, Eric Mulei, Raymond Kiprotich Bett, and Ashif Kasim.

However, John Githongo has disputed any allegations of faking logs, stating that one cannot fabricate anything given to them by someone else.

“The logs annexed to my affidavit dated 21st August 2022 are the exact logs given to me by the young man referred to in my affidavit and therefore the logs did not originate from me or the petitioner.” John Githongo says in the affidavit.

In an earlier affidavit, John Githongo had stated that he got hold of a hacker who was part of a 56-member team recruited by Dennis Itumbi, a Digital Strategist at the Presidential Campaign of president-elect William Ruto, and confessed to intercepting form 34As and manipulating the figures in favor of Ruto before re-uploading them to the IEBC system.

“I have come to learn that the logs furnished to me by the young man were meant to be a demo on how the IEBC server can be accessed and manipulated by external unauthorized parties. The same are screen grabs commonly known as screenshots and are not actual logs.” John Githongo’s affidavit reads in part.

However, John Githongo alleges that the logs included in IEBC Commissioner Justus Nyangaya’s affidavit back up the information he received earlier on the hacking of the IEBC system.

Githongo also claims the contents of his earlier affidavit were further evidence of alteration of forms 34A, an issue he accuses Ruto of ignoring.