Keriako Tobiko and NCIC want Moses Kuria prosecuted for hate speech and incitement

Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko wants the bail granted to Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria in a hate speech case cancelled and the matter heard to its conclusion.

Mr Tobiko made the request to a Nairobi court on Tuesday after the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) accused Mr Kuria of breaching an agreement for an out-of-court settlement.

Mr Kuria was accused of spewing fresh hate messages targeting the Luo community on his Facebook page barely a week after committing not to do so.

In a sworn affidavit presented through Mr Tobiko's office, Chief Inspector of Police Robert Mabera, for NCIC, said Mr Kuria had been restrained “from making statements that amount to incitement to violence and ethnic hatred pending the outcome of the proposed out-of-court settlement”.

THREE CHARGES

“Despite the court order, the accused on January 11, 2015 posted content to his Facebook (page) referring to a Bible verse, Genesis 17:14, a verse referring to the cultural practice of circumcision," Mr Mabera said.   

Mr Kuria is accused of linking the Gikomba terrorist attack, which claimed several lives, to members of the Luo community.

He faces three charges of incitement to violence, hate speech and fanning ethnic hatred.

The prosecution has attached a printout of the Facebook page containing the alleged hate message as an exhibit in the application seeking to have the bail revoked.

“The accused has in the past made reference to the cultural practice of non-circumcision in a derogatory manner as a means of demeaning persons from the Luo community," Mr Mabera said and produced screen shots of Mr Kuria’s Twitter page to support his claim.

The statements the politician had been posting, he said, amounted to ethnic contempt as contemplated by Section 62 (1) of the NCIC Act 2008.

ETHNIC HATRED

“The state now seeks that (the) bail granted to the accused be cancelled,” the chief inspector said.

Mr Kuria denied the three charges last year and secured his freedom by depositing a Sh2 million cash bail after.

The court was told that the lawmaker and the NCIC had been “negotiating” to settle the case out of court but “immediately after the last meeting, the accused posted similar messages amounting to ethnic hatred” rendering the process futile.

The lawmaker has denied breaching the agreement, saying he had offered a public apology in the local dailies and closed all his social media accounts.

On Tuesday, his defence team was given 14 days to respond to Mr Tobiko's request and return to court on March 12.