It’s time for tougher action on hate mongers

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission chairperson Francis ole Kaparo at his office on June 8, 2016. The commission must take action against any utterances that incite Kenyans against one another. PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • We are approaching a General Election and history is still fresh in our minds on how incitement and hate utterances in the build-up to the election almost tore apart this country in 2008 when the presidential results were disputed.
  • The National Cohesion and Integration Commission must take action against any utterances that incite Kenyans against one another.
  • A proposal to make it a requirement that those seeking elective positions get clearance certificates from NCIC sounds plausible.

Although the government may have used what some have termed excessive measures to deal with the eight politicians recently accused of incitement by locking them in the cells for four days and the drama that ensued to have them freed on bail, there is a general feeling among Kenyans that the country is headed in the wrong direction.

We are approaching a General Election and history is still fresh in our minds on how incitement and hate utterances in the build-up to the election almost tore apart this country in 2008 when the presidential results were disputed.

Since 1992, when the country embraced competitive politics following the repeal of section 2A, the country has experienced post election violence except in 2013.

This exception can be attributed to the institutions that had been created and trusted to handle the elections. Having lost confidence in the electoral body after the manner in which it conducted the 2013 elections, the losers had the option of turning to the Supreme Court, the final arbiter.

But things are not the same today. The integrity of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission has been a major bone of contention.

Although there is a general consensus that the electoral commission and laws need to be amended, the manner and the extent of these are yet to be ironed out.

Also, the intrigues in the Judiciary to fill the slots left vacant after three of the Supreme Court judges retired have come to the fore, with doubts emerging whether a Supreme Court that enjoys public confidence like the one that presided over the 2013 election dispute can be born in the prevailing environment.

This puts the country in a volatile situation. The cash-starved National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) must take action against any utterances that incite Kenyans against one another. It seems that politicians and some people using social media do not care about the destructive effects of hate speech.

HATE AND INCITING REMARKS

NCIC has not been keen on punishing those who use social media platforms to make hate and inciting remarks. Granted, doing so is a herculean task considering the huge number of users. However, taking action against a few such offenders, as happened with the eight politicians, would act as deterrent to those trying to set this country on fire.

A proposal to make it a requirement that those seeking elective positions get clearance certificates from NCIC sounds plausible. There are those who argue that hate speech is not recognised as a punishable offence in advanced democracies, but this cannot be applied to Kenya, considering our young democracy and history of politics mobilised on ethnicity.

Parents must realise that children absorb the values practised around them. Families must start preaching against the narrative of “us” versus “them”, which has characterised our multiparty politics.

Second, schools must teach students the strength of our diversity — that we can love our tribes, political parties, and faiths without hating other people. Religious leaders have a critical role to play in this matter. Most importantly, the fight against hate speech and incitement should not be partisan because its consequences cut across the political divide.

An equally thorny issue is the question regarding what we mean by “hate speech”. Can we define it without stifling freedom of speech and expression, which is fundamental for the realisation of the other rights and freedoms?

Efforts to curb hate speech should not impact on democratic gains and infringe on people’s right to express their thoughts. We must be careful not to criminalise free speech as we fight hate speech.

Mr Obonyo is the author of Conversations about the Youth in Kenya. [email protected].