Kenyans call for Kabogos arrest over hate speech

Kiambu Governor William Kabogo is once again in the spotlight after delivering a speech which has aggravated social media rage after it went viral.

The video clip taken last Sunday at Thika Stadium during the 30-year celebration of musician John de Matthew shows the governor making contentious statements.

During his speech, Kabogo said that Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama would face dire consequences if he does not stop insulting the President of the Republic of Kenya.

While addressing a cheering crowd, Kabogo warned Muthama of insulting President Kenyatta saying, “If Muthama insults (President) Uhuru again; we will go for him in his mother’s house.”

Kabogo further referred to Raila as being stupid and alluded to lack of circumcision as being the cause of his stupidity.

The daring governor also challenged the media to report on his utterances, saying he has enough money to defend himself in court if need be.

His declarations have, however,  elicited criticism from members of the public who want Kabogo arrested for hate speech, incitement to violence and tribal profiling.

This comes after a statement made by Muthama in September at an Uhuru Park rally in support of a five-week long teachers strike was termed as hate speech and he was arraigned in court over the issue.

Muthama allegedly told the crowd that teachers who returned to school as had been advised by President Uhuru Kenyatta would be stoned.

The senator is further accused of saying Uhuru will be “smoked out of State House soon” if he does not resign

Former Nairobi mayor George Aladwa was also recently widely condemned for the utterances made at a Kibera rally which are said to incite Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) supporters to violence during the 2017 elections.

The clip, which is circulating on social media, shows the ODM Nairobi Chair telling the crowd at a rally to resort to violence should party leader Raila Odinga not win the 2017 elections.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria on the other hand is also among those accused of hate speech after he allegedly incited youth from his constituency to slash – using pangas – those opposed to the National Youth Service (NYS) programme.

Political analyst Muthi Ngunyi is also faced with charges over Tweets he posted which are deemed to amount to hate speech.

In one of the posts, Ngunyi stated that: “The LUO NATION is spell bound by RAILA. Period. That is why they call him BABA like NYAYO. In fact, the only BABA after NYAYO. Mental SLAVERY.”

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga had had earlier warned that unless politicians tone down on discordant utterances, the country could witness another episode of post-election violence in 2017.