Gatundu South MP Kuria denies fuelling incitement on Facebook

Gatundu South Member of Parliament Moses Kuria yesterday denied that he fuelled violence by posting ethnic statements on social media during the Gikomba terrorist attack in May, last year.

The legislator told the court that he was a victim who was singled out by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), despite a huge number of people raising their displeasure on what was happening.

Mr Kuria, through his lawyer Danson Mungatana, argued that his posts were a small fraction of thousands of worse anger-driven comments.

Mungatana told Principal Magistrate Teresiah Nyangena that LSK acted without fairness by accusing Kuria of what was extensively covered in the media and talked about by many Kenyans.

The lawyer, while questioning LSK Secretary Apollo Mboya, who is the key witness in the case, sought to find out if the complaint letter written to the Director of Public Prosecution was drafted after a counsel sitting.

Mr Mboya told the court that he writes letters on a daily basis most of which do not require the counsel to hold meetings.

The defence also accused LSK of charging Kuria with three counts – incitement to violence, hate speech and fanning negative ethnicity – which were not evident in the accused social media posts.

State Counsel Leonard Maingi, in his cross-examination, asked Mboya if LSK has held a meeting on the matter.

"Your honour, there were four members who sat in the meeting. They had also received complaints in their individual capacity," Mboya said.

The hearing continues today.