Tanzanian Govt Accused of Ksh150M Plot to Track Radio 47 Journalists

The allegations of foreign interference in Kenya have taken a chillingly specific turn. Billy Miya, one-half of the popular Radio 47 duo, has released shocking details regarding an alleged cross-border surveillance plot. According to Billy, this isn’t just a vague threat from a neighboring state, but a coordinated, intelligence-style operation involving a betrayal from within.

“They have used an insider in the office, who gave us Ksh150 million, so that they could disclose our number plates to make it easier for the Tanzanian government to track us,” Billy stated publicly. This revelation suggests that a foreign administration has managed to infiltrate a Kenyan media house to facilitate the tracking of local journalists. The claim that Ksh150 million was used to bribe a mole to leak vehicle registration data indicates a high-stakes effort to monitor the daily movements of the presenters outside the studio.

The friction reportedly stems from the hosts’ massive East African reach and their refusal to self-censor when discussing regional politics. Through their show Maskani 47, Billy and Mbaruk Mwalimu have built a reputation for speaking “uncomfortable truths” about the Tanzanian administration—a move that Billy says triggered this high-level crackdown.

“Tanzania is hunting me personally and my co-presenter, meaning they don’t like how we work and they don’t like how we tell the truth,” he said. Despite the alleged threat of being hunted by a foreign power’s security apparatus, the duo remains remarkably defiant. Standing their ground against what they describe as a state-sponsored intimidation campaign, Billy issued a bold challenge to those following them: “We say let them come. A journalist is not a criminal.”

The gravity of a foreign government allegedly running a surveillance network inside Kenya to target Kenyan citizens for doing their jobs cannot be overstated. It raises fundamental questions about national sovereignty and the safety of the press in East Africa. While the two hosts continue to air their popular show, the silence from Kenya’s intelligence and security agencies regarding these specific, money-backed allegations remains a glaring void. As the story continues to dominate timelines, the public is left demanding to know how a foreign state can allegedly operate so freely within the “Silicon Savannah’s” borders.