Machage shown the door

President Kibaki on Thursday suspended Roads assistant minister Wilfred Machage, who is facing hate speech charges. The suspension is the latest in a series of decisions showing resolve to deal with suspected incitement and will be in place until the case is determined.

Dr Machage, along with MPs Joshua Kutuny and Fred Kapondi, have been prosecuted for hate speech. His suspension came only a day after he was arraigned in court.

In an immediate reaction, Dr Machage was defiant, saying the President should just have sacked him. He swore to remain in the group opposed to the proposed constitution, saying: “It would have been better if I was fully relinquished of my services in government so that I can focus fully on my services as a backbencher.”

Speaking at Parliament Buildings, he said he had no contract to serve in government. The only contract he had, he said, was to serve the people of Kuria who elected him. But he thanked the President for his confidence in him and allowing him to serve in five ministries as an assistant minister.

He maintained that the draft constitution was bad for Kenya. Incitement to violence is a serious security threat to Kenya — a country where three years ago more than 1,000 people were killed and another 600,000 evicted from their homes in political violence.

Politicians have been blamed for inciting, organising and funding the violence. But the ‘No’ camp thought the suspension and the prosecution of MPs over hate speech was an effort by the government to intimidate those opposed to the proposed constitution.

Said Belgut MP Charles Keter: “It is desperation by the government. Why have they not taken similar action against those who have called us land grabbers? It won’t wash.” Mutito MP Kiema Kilonzo, who is also campaigning against the new law, said:

“The President and the Prime Minister said nobody will be sacked or intimidated over the constitution. Why are they doing it now? It will not intimidate us.”

Konoin MP Julius Kones, also in the ‘No’ camp, argued that the case Dr Machage is facing has nothing to do with corruption, therefore there was no reason to ask him to resign.

Dr Machage is the second assistant minister allied to the ‘No’ camp to be shown the door in two months, the other being Mr Keter, who was an assistant minister in the Ministry of Energy.

Dr Machage could probably be reinstated if he is not found guilty. He faces three years in jail, or a fine of Sh1 million, or both, if found guilty. If he is jailed for more than six months, then Dr Machage, a 54-year-old surgeon, will lose his seat.

On Wednesday, he was charged with four counts of uttering words likely to stir ethnic hatred during the launch of the ‘No’ secretariat at Nairobi’s Upper Hill last week.

The first count stated that he uttered the words “waMaasai chenu hakiko Rift Valley, mashamba yenu yote yataenda kwa serikali.” (You the Maasai, all your land in Rift Valley will be repossessed by the government).

Dr Machage, who denied all the charges, was also accused of uttering the words: “waKikuyu wahame Rift Valley mahali kulimilikiwa na WaDorobo.” (Kikuyus migrate from Rift Valley, your land was initially inhabited by the Dorobo).

He was charged alongside Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi and Cherangany’s Joshua Kutuny as well as political activist Ms Christine Nyagitha Miller.

The Kuria MP had been flagged down by police and arrested on Forest Road in Nairobi’s Parklands neighbourhood on Tuesday and driven to the Criminal Investigations Department headquarters on Kiambu Road before spending the night in police cells.

He was freed on a Sh100,000 cash bail and ordered to report to the investigating officer, Mr Robert Mabera at the CID headquarters on a daily basis and whenever required by police.

News of Dr Machage’s suspension came hours after a lobby group had filed a hate speech and incitement complaint against Higher Education minister William Ruto, citing remarks made on Kass FM.

The Change Associates Trust filed the complaint, with a transcript of the interview attached, with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

They claimed that the statements made by the minister bordered on the “creation of inter-ethnic tension and fear in the country”. They added that Mr Ruto should be compelled to substantiate his statements.

Dr Machage belonged to the Party of National Unity (PNU) side of the grand coalition government and should he lose the case and his job, it is almost certain that his replacement will come from the same wing.

Though his problems with the government surfaced after Parliament failed to amend the draft constitution to increase the number of counties from 47 to 74 as he had demanded, those close to Dr Machage believe that this was just but the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Apparently, Dr Machage’s disillusionment with the government started when he was demoted from a full minister to an assistant minister during the formation of the grand coalition government in 2008.

President Kibaki had appointed Dr Machage the minister in charge of the East African Community when he named his first government after the disputed 2007 election.

But he demoted him and appointed ODM’s Amason Kingi to the docket barely four months later, a move Dr Machage is said not to have taken kindly.

Explaining why the President suspended and not sacked Dr Machage, Mr Isaiah Kabira, head of the PPS explained: “Sacking Dr Machage would be prejudicial and pre-judging him as guilty. The President believes in the rule of law.’’

The MP’s suspension was received with mixed feelings in the constituency. While some termed the move as good riddance, others asked Dr Machage  to resign from the government to protest at what they said was harassment for opposing the draft constitution.

By Peter Leftie, Oliver Mathenge, Caroline Wafula and Elisha Otieno