Mutahi Ngunyi loses bid to stop his prosecution over hate speech

Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has lost a bid to block the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko from charging him for alleged ethnic contempt.

In his application heard by Justice Joseph Onguto, Ngunyi argued that no investigations were carried-out and that he had not recorded any statements over the incident.

Justice Onguto certified the matter as urgent and ordered Ngunyi to serve the DPP and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) with the suit papers before a hearing on Thursday.

The DPP on Monday directed that Ngunyi be charged for ethnic contempt over tweets on his account allegedly directed at the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) leader Raila Odinga and the Luo community.

Ngunyi had already apologized and deleted the tweets. He offered an apology to the Luo community over controversial posts on his twitter account.

He posted the apology on the same social media platform on Tuesday, August 25th, 2015 saying that his previous comments were never meant to cause any harm.

The tweet stated: “I apologize to the LUO NATION unreservedly. No harm INTENDED. I am a product of Luo SCHOLARS whom I RESPECT immensely. I eat the HUMBLE PIE (sic).”

The political scientist had blasted Law Society of Kenya (LSK) CEO Apollo Mboya for writing to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission over the matter.

He accused Mboya of abuse of office, demeaning the law profession and also working for CORD members.

In August, Mboya called for the prosecution of Ngunyi over the alleged incitement on social media.

In a letter to NCIC, Mboya said Ngunyi’s posts on social media were intended on inciting the public against a certain community.

“My attention has been drawn to the contents of the twitter account of one Mutahi Ngunyi, together with comments thereto which has been brought to my attention by concerned members of the public,” read the statement in part.

“In particular, the posts target members of a specific community as lacking individuality and in a state of mental slavery, assertions that are not only false but may very well constitute hate speeches directed at specific members of a community for which I am a member.”

He called on the NCIC to carry out investigations on the claims and forward their recommendation to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for action.