A visitor to Kenya flipping through local newspapers published over the past few months would be forgiven for concluding that the biggest threats to peace and national security are irresponsible bloggers, those insulting others through text messages, and films that have not been approved by an overzealous censor.

Terrorism remains a constant national security threat as well as bandits, cattle rustlers and ethnic militias. Ruthless armed robbers are an unchecked menace. Yet, the National Police Service would seem to be deploying scarce resources to check pesky bloggers who offend the sensitivities of the high and mighty.

Social media nuisances who should at best be ignored, or their ranting left for the civil courts, are now being hunted like dangerous criminals and prosecuted under some misapplied law for the “misuse of a telecommunications device.”

Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro, Inspector-General of Police Joseph Boinett, and Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko, are forever complaining that they are understaffed, under-resourced and overworked. But, they apparently have time and resources to chase down bloggers, while dangerous criminals and white-collar princes of corruption enjoy virtual immunity.

All too often they seem to be merely doing the bidding of Interior Secretary Joseph Nkaissery, a former army-general who seems to have decided that wayward thought on social media is Kenya’s biggest security threat. What seems like an official campaign to stifle freedom of expression, has also found itself reflected in overzealous efforts to control what Kenyans watch and read.

Since his appointment late last year as chief executive of the Kenya Film Classification Board, journalist-turned official censor Ezekiel Mutua has adopted the classic default position for government regulators: Ban or restrict everything that does not meet your approval, and extract stiff levies for everything that must seek approval.

Mr Mutua, claiming to uphold some unwritten national moral and religious values, has adopted a zealot’s interpretation to the Films and Stage Plays Act. He recently caused an uproar when he purported to extend his censors scissors to Netflix — a US-based movie-streaming service that has entered the Kenyan market.

Mr Mutua represents a mindset within government that is unable to distinguish between regulatory functions and controls.

It is also a mindset that holds that everything that impacts on what Kenyans can see, hear, and discuss must be tightly restricted lest it undermine state authority.

It is ironic that these strange manoeuvres are being applied by a team that campaigned on its digital credentials. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto sought office by projecting themselves as youthful, modern and tech-savvy.

Kenya enjoys about the freest and most liberal media environment in Africa. The democratic space, though chaotic, as well as the extent to which Kenyans enjoy their freedoms of thought speech, conscience, assembly and association, is unrivalled on the content.

However it would seem that as the 2017 elections approach, an increasingly paranoid administration wants to turn back the clock.

[email protected] @MachariaGaitho