In fighting hate speech, NCIC shouldn’t go the populism way

Every aspirant should be wary of hate speech and its heavy political costs. Even without unanimity on dealing with its subtle aspects, it’s a threat that must be fought and crushed.

Politicians and the public are complicit in the crime of reckless rhetoric. A few years back, a vice-chancellor was kicked out of a university for coming from the ‘wrong’ tribe. And last week, MP Moses Kuria had a farcical reason why a certain tribe should not lead.    

Our choices are mostly based on what’s in it for our tribes – notwithstanding the fact that the tribe is faceless! Major political alliances bet on ethnicity as a pivot yet it breeds selfish interests and dangerous exclusion. Hatred nearly tore us apart in 2007 and 2017.

Ahead of the August 9 General Election now, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) finds itself in the public eye. It is fighting to stem hate propagated by callous leaders who consider this election a matter of life and death. They are supported by their tacticians who dunk into the digital space to manipulate voters.

Facebook and Twitter have become a revolution with a snare and NCIC is fully aware. Using the power of platforms, hard-nosed hatchet men and women have normalised hate messaging online. NCIC Chairman Samuel Kobia says 36 bloggers allied to Raila Odinga’s Azimio la Umoja and William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza are being investigated.

Dr Kobia also says nine hate speech cases are in court. In January, Meru Senator Mithika Linturi was taken to task over “madoadoa” utterances that investigators feared could incite contempt, hatred, violence or discrimination. And last week, NCIC said it had summoned Mr Odinga to explain his use of the “madoadoa” word at a rally.

Following through these developments, many Kenyans who care about the democratic potency of the nation can’t help but wonder why there has hardly been successful prosecution of hate speech. Politicians aren’t moved an inch that big brother is watching.

Having failed at it, I fear NCIC may no longer resist the temptation to adopt a populist style so as to be seen to be working. Summoning Mr Odinga, for instance, could just be a box-ticking exercise that will offer nothing epoch-making. It will be for the cameras.

The shameless politicisation of prosecution of hate speech cases must stop, and the high and mighty held to account for their every word. Dr Kobia is upbeat that Mr Odinga has agreed to appear before them “despite his stature.” Is he implying the ODM chief has the freedom to ignore the summons and is doing NCIC a favour by cooperating? The question that begs an answer is why the agency seems to be struggling to assert itself.   

There is a way notorious hatemongers can be tracked physically and on social media without waiting for their filthy content to sip through news media for authorities to act. Madoadoa or not, NCIC work cannot be premised on media reportage in a nation where ambiguity in political utterances is mystifying.

For posterity, the National Cohesion and Integration Act should be amended to widen the scope of this all-important agency in reining in people whose words and actions spur ethnic hatred.

Yet again, we should not restrict the agency to ethnicity matters yet we know hate speech in our context transcends mere stereotyping and tribal talk. We have seen outright hate against people living with disability and the LGBTQ community in a way that makes you imagine there aren’t more serious ills amongst us.  

There is also the danger to gag views and deny people their rights to express themselves and access impartial information in the name of fighting incitement in rallies. Freedom of expression is protected by Article 33 of the Constitution. It must remain sacrosanct even in a sensitive political season like now. NCIC needs every support in its work.    

The writer is an editor at The Standard. Twitter: @markoloo