Mutahi Ngunyi to be charged with ethnic contempt on Monday

Political analyst Mutahi Ngunyi has been summoned by a Milimani court to appear before it on Monday to respond to allegations of hate speech charges levelled against him.

Chief Magistrate Daniel Ogembo issued the orders after Ngunyi’s attempt to stop Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko from charging him failed.

Through lawyer Jennifer Shamalla, Ngunyi argued the planned prosecution was malicious and a violation of his rights as no investigation was carried out by national cohesion and integration commission.

Tobiko on Monday recommended Ngunyi be charged with ethnic contempt over remarks he posted on his twitter social media page.

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.