MPs acquitted of hate speech charges

Two MPs and a businesswoman were acquitted Wednesday of hate speech charges during the campaigns against the 2010 constitutional referendum.

Kuria MP Wilfred Machage, his Mt Elgon counterpart Fred Kapondi and businesswoman Christine Nyagitha Miller were acquitted because the prosecution failed to prove that the accused were guilty even though they had all evidence, outgoing Nairobi Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei ruled.

Mr Mutembei, now the High Court deputy registrar, said: “The prosecution failed to comply with the rules regarding electronic evidence and I find the accused not guilty and acquit them.”

The three were charged with making speeches meant to stir up ethnic hatred during the referendum campaigns held last year.

Dr Machage was accused of saying in Kiswahili: “You the Maasai, all your land in Rift Valley will be repossessed by the government”.

Mr Kapondi’s said: “We inform them that with the passage of the proposed constitution, they must pack up and go.”
Ms Miller, widow of former Chief Justice Cecil Miller, was accused of saying in Kiswahili “Why hasn’t the 'Yes’ camp visited Central (province)? It is because they know at Githunguri we will pelt them with stones and tell them this is a 'No’ zone.”

They allegedly said this at Nairobi’s Upper Hill on June 10 2010.

Mr Mutembei said that the electronic evidence in video clips did not comply with the rules of evidence, and that the prosecution failed to provide certificates to prove that the clips were genuine.

He ruled that the contents of the video clips did not represent the entire speech made by the three accused during the campaign rally.

He upheld the accused contention that the video footage played in court as evidence was not the full coverage of what they said since it had been edited for broadcast purposes.

He said that for any printed record or magnetic media to be admitted as evidence, there must be prove through certificates confirming the authenticity of the records.

Immediately the judgment was read, supporters of the two MPs who jammed the court room broke into song and dance with the accused saying that justice has been finally achieved.

Dr Machage, who was suspended from the cabinet as a result of the charges, said that he had been incarcerated for the past one year for no apparent reason, reiterating his statements in court that the charges were brought with a political motive to silence them.