Ngunyi faces hate speech charges

After giving a goat to assuage the anger of the Luo community over ethnic contempt, political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi now faces hate speech charges after Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Keriako Tobiko directed that he be prosecuted.

Mr Ngunyi joins senators Johnson Muthama (Machakos), Isaac Melly (Uasin Gishu) and Ali Bulle (Tana River), and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, who face prosecution over alleged hate speech and incitement to violence.

A statement signed by the DPP’s head of communication Beatrice Omari said there is evidence to charge Mr Ngunyi with ethnic contempt contrary to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Act.

The DPP said this was in relation to messages Mr Ngunyi allegedly posted on his Twitter account disparaging Cord leader Raila Odinga and the Luo community and directed that he be charged accordingly.

The case against Mr Ngunyi follows a complaint by Mr Apollo Mboya who represents the Law Society of Kenya at the NCIC.

In a letter to NCIC Secretary Hassan Mohammed, Mr Mboya said Mr Ngunyi’s Twitter posts were inciteful and against a specific community.

“In particular, the posts target members of a specific community as lacking individuality and in a state of mental slavery, assertions that are not only false but may very well constitute hate speeches directed at specific members of a community of which I am a member,” read the letter in part.

Mr Mboya called for investigations of Mr Ngunyi’s utterances and recommended that he be charged.

“It is my view that the words uttered by Mutahi Ngunyi are intended to incite feelings of contempt, hatred, hostility, violence and/or discrimination against a community on the basis of ethnicity and therefore committed an offence under Section 62 of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Act,” said Mr Mboya in his letter. But Mr Mboya later accepted a goat from Mr Ngunyi as he apologised over his posts.

Meanwhile, Mr Muthama and a Mr Japheth Muriira Muroko face charges of incitement to violence and disobedience of law.

“On perusal of the file, the DPP is satisfied there is sufficient evidence to sustain charges of incitement to violence against Senator Muthama and Mr Muroko in relation to statements and utterances allegedly made during the Uhuru Park rally held by Cord on September 23,” said the DPP.

Senator Isaac Melly faces charges of maliciously damaging property belonging to Eldoret University after taking part in a demonstration against the vice-chancellor.

Charges facing Tana River Senator Bulle, according to the DPP, followed recommendations from the NCIC that he be prosecuted over ethnic contempt in relation to utterances he allegedly made in July 2015, and which led to violence in the Tana Delta.

Mr Kuria is being investigated on claims he incited his constituents to cut with machetes those opposing National Youth Service Empowerment programmes.

The DPP, however, noted some gaps and inconsistencies in the statements of the would-be prosecution witnesses and sent the file back to NCIC with instructions to record further statements from the witnesses and resubmit the file in two weeks.