MCA in court over incitement to violence

A Nairobi Member of the County Assembly (MCA) has been arraigned before Senior Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandana and charged with incitement to violence.

It is alleged that on January 14th 2014, the Eastleigh East Ward MCA Nelson Masiga uttered words which implied he was going to mobilise the public to invade Kiragu Waichahi School, an act that led to the destruction of the school.

The MCA was also charged with malicious damage to property and stealing various school equipment worth Ksh 3.3 million.

Masiga denied all the charges and was released on a cash bail of Ksh 200,000. The case will be heard on January 15th 2016.

Masiga is not the first politician to face charges of incitement to violence with Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria’s case active in court.

In November this year, Kuria was charged with incitement to violence over recent utterances that were deemed to inciting.

The MP has another ongoing case for hate speech. Hi case will be mentioned on December 14, 2015.

He is among several other politicians accused of hate speech and incitement to violence who include Machakos Senator Johnstone Muthama and ODM Nairobi chairman George Aladwa.

A Nairobi court had previously dismissed an application by Kuria seeking to compel Mobile Services Provider Safaricom to release phone records of the Law Society of Kenya CEO Apollo Mboya, who he accuses of forwarding his name to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).

Kuria had told the court that he intended to use the phone records in his defence accusing Mboya of maliciously forwarding his name to NCIC over allegations of hate speech.