NCIC to record hate speakers across the country

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) chair, Francis ole Kaparo, has announced that the commission will use officers with 47 video recorders and 390 voice recorders to record hate speakers for prosecution purposes.

Speaking at the NCIC launch of induction training for 109 cohesion monitors training of hate speech monitors at Multi Media University, Nairobi, Ole Kaparo warned politicians against inciting members of the public in their campaigns.

Various stakeholders among them Police, NCIC and IEBC have appealed to Kenyans to foster unity and shun political incitement as the campaigns heat up ahead of the August 8 poll.

Echoing this, Deputy Director of Criminal Investigation, Joseph Ashimala, urged the trainees to act tougher on hate speakers.

On his part, IEBC Chair, Wafula Wanyonyi Chebukati, also pledged to act on politicians who violate the election laws.

This comes a day after President Uhuru Kenyatta accused Mombasa Governor, Ali Hassan Joho, of throwing insults at him, allegations Joho denies.

A month ago, NCIC promised to take drastic measures in a bid to curb the hate speech and incitement menace amongst the electorates during the coming August polls.

NCIC CEO, Mohamed Hassan, who was then speaking at a forum for broadcast media, said that the move was taken after the commission faced challenges in regards to presenting electronic evidence in court cases.

“We have lost many court cases of hate speech and incitement. The problem is that we are relying on electronic evidence which law requires must be owned, most of the time the journalists and media houses are not willing to record statements,” said the CEO.

According to the CEO, the commission acknowledges the fact that heading into a political season; cases of hate speech and incitement of violence are likely to rise and therefore the need to prevent the country from plunging into chaos.