Tame hate speech before it festers
Meru Senator Mithika Linturi was yesterday arrested for the umpteenth time. He has been in the crosshairs of law enforcement officers for myriad reasons.
He has been picked in the past for alleged fraud, alleged rape among other reasons.
However, yesterday’s arrest was for making utterances deemed inciting. Whereas that is a subject being investigated and the senator could be prosecuted for it, his admission that on hindsight he should not have uttered the word madoadoa speaks of the recklessness some leaders engage in during campaigns.
The word was used as a rallying call for those perceived to be supporting a different candidate to be evicted in past elections.
In the 2008 post-election violence, more than 600,000 Kenyans branded madoadoa were forcefully evicted or displaced from their homes.
More than 1,300 paid the ultimate price for being seen to support candidates residents felt did not serve their interests.
So bad was the situation that the team that probed the election violence noted in their report that: “These were systematic attacks on Kenyans based on their ethnicity and their political leanings.
Attackers organised along ethnic lines, assembled considerable logistical means and travelled long distances to burn houses, maim, kill and sexually assault their occupants because these were of particular ethnic groups and political persuasion.
Guilty by association was the guiding force behind deadly “revenge” attacks, with victims being identified not for what they did but for their ethnic association to other perpetrators.”
It is because of this that we condemn the utterances, though the speaker may have had a different intention the result awakened the wounds of the 2008 violence. We also ask leaders to tame their speech during the campaigns.
Families lost breadwinners because of hate speech; marriages were ruined because of negative perceptions; neighbours turned on each other because of political persuasions.
This should not be repeated. The country should learn from the very bad experience that almost pushed the nation to the brink.
It may be seen as just another statement but all it takes to trigger violence is to inflame passions based on such statements.
Words have changed the course of history and anyone bestowed with leadership responsibilities or someone people look up to should be careful when addressing their supporters.
As we condemn hateful speech, we also beseech the populace to be wary of incitement and leaders out to sow seeds of discord.
