Governor, senator among 34 people in NCIC hate watch list
Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi is among 34 high-profile personalities currently under investigation by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) over incitement and breach of peace.
Apart from Kingi the others under active investigations include Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi, Narok Senator Ledama ole Kina as well as a number of political leaders which the commission declined to name.
The investigation came even as the commission raised concerns over heightened 2022 succession politics in the country amid the fight against coronavirus pandemic which NCIC said has already caused unimaginable stress among Kenyans.
Commission chairman Rev Samuel Kobia stated that ongoing political activities in the midst of a pandemic of global concern, is not only a health worry, but also a major threat on peace and national cohesion.
“Today I want to address you on the threats of cohesion during this Covid-19 pandemic.
As we are all aware, the social and economic impact of Covid-19 has been felt by all sectors, but when political activities are in the mix, this becomes an unbearable situation,” he said yesterday at the commission offices.
Kingi is under investigations after in December last year,the commission claimed that he delivered an inciting speech when he addressed residents on the history of landlessness in the Coast region before and after independence.
Kina is also one of those NCIC said it is actively investigating for using language that can easily stoke ethnic conflict.
The senator is alleged to have made pronouncements on May 20 intended to incite feelings of discrimination against non-Maasai communities living in Narok county based on their ethnicity, on February 19 during a show on a local TV station.
Sudi on the other hand is being investigated after he claimed that he had reliable information that members of the dreaded Mungiki sect were to be sent to the Rift Valley by Nominated MP Maina Kamanda to stoke ethnic tensions.
Kobia who spoke at NCIC offices yesterday also said a number of those identified to have breached peace in their respective public utterances have been invited to shed more light on their actions.
Social distancing
In relation to abuse of World Health Organisation (WHO) protocols of Covid-19 social distancing and 2022 succession politics, the Commission condemned a recent meeting hosted by Cotu Secretary General, Francis Atwoli at his Ilbisil home in Kajiado county.
Kobia said that despite the lockdown affecting movement in some counties such as Nairobi and Mombasa, the assembly of a section of leaders at Atwoli’s home, was wrong and is one of those meetings that have been held in total disregard to the guidelines.
“Such violation strain relationships and further erodes the public trust on the leaders. What was witnessed in Kajiado is not only unacceptable but also a recipe for strained relationships among different communities in Kenya,” said Kobia further highlighting that such acts brew tension between social clusters in the country where the political class is perceived to be above the law.
NCIC wants the government to take decisive measures against such people and hold them responsible for breaking the law.
Last month Atwoli hosted around 40 Luhya leaders, a meeting that became an intense subject on the social media as Kenyans condemned the meeting for abusing Ministry of Health social distancing guidelines.
“The result of this will be read in the daily Covid-19 updates by the Ministry of Health, within the next two weeks.
The host did not even bother to wear a mask!” one commentator wrote after watching a clip of the leaders dancing close to each other with Atwoli leading the jig.
Kobia also said that the Commission has noticed that all sorts of propaganda are being peddled on social media and other public spaces that are based on hate speech and ethnic contempt.
“We note with concern the hate and all sorts of propaganda propagated on these platforms is a threat to the fragile social cohesion.
Thus, we have summoned a number of suspected offenders to appear before the commission for further interrogations,” he said.
