NCIC washes its hands of Kuria’s case
What you need to know:
- This leaves Mr Kuria at the mercy of the courts where he is expected to defend himself against accusations that he posted online material bordering on hate speech and ethnic contempt.
- Barely hours after he made a public apology for posting hate remarks on his Facebook page, Mr Kuria allegedly made a sensational statement on male circumcision, while using a Biblical reference.
- Mr Kaparo who was accompanied by some of his commissioners had a difficult time defending the commission’s commitment to promoting national unity by dealing firmly with all those engaging in hate speech irrespective of their perceived political affiliation.
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) on Friday withdrew from the conciliation process between the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria.
This leaves Mr Kuria at the mercy of the courts where he is expected to defend himself against accusations that he posted online material bordering on hate speech and ethnic contempt.
The commission said it decided to allow the court case to proceed to its logical conclusion after learning that the legislator continued to post information on his social media accounts that may cause disharmony and are in contradiction of the spirit of conciliation.
“The Commission has regretfully observed that the Hon Kuria has not exhibited a conciliatory demeanour in his social media accounts,” Mr Francis ole Kaparo, the NCIC chairperson said.
“We shall present an affidavit in court indicating how he has breached the conciliatory order,” Mr Kaparo said during a press conference at the commission’s offices in Nairobi.
Calls by the Nation to Mr Kuria’s mobile number yesterday went unanswered.
Barely hours after he made a public apology for posting hate remarks on his Facebook page, Mr Kuria allegedly made a sensational statement on male circumcision, while using a Biblical reference.
The post elicited mixed reactions in the social media with majority of the respondents questioning the sincerity of his public apology.
Mr Kaparo who was accompanied by some of his commissioners had a difficult time defending the commission’s commitment to promoting national unity by dealing firmly with all those engaging in hate speech irrespective of their perceived political affiliation.
He denied that the commission was only dealing with ‘small fish’ while letting influential Kenyans off the hook.
Mr Kaparo was reminded of the case of Mr Allan Wadi, 22, a university student who pleaded guilty to hate speech charges and was jailed for two years.
“The commission investigated both cases but, we could not go to court and tell Wadi not to plead guilty.
‘‘That could have amounted to interfering with the court process,” he said.
