Two held for hate speech in Kenya

KENYAN police detained a ruling party politician and a former opposition senator yesterday for alleged hate speech, amid a febrile atmosphere in the country after the Supreme Court annulled the results of the presidential election.

Both the candidates in that ballot, incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta and veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, also ratcheted up the temperature in public speeches yesterday.

Politics in Kenya often follows ethnic lines and has in the past erupted into deadly violence, making the authorities sensitive to perceived inflammatory statements.

Reported instances of hate speech have risen sharply since the surprise ruling on September 1, when the Supreme Court voided Kenyatta’s reelection citing tallying irregularities.

“Moses Kuria, a member of parliament and Johnson Muthama, a former senator, have been arrested on hate speech allegations,” Interior Ministry spokesman Mwenda Njoka said.

He did not give further details on the arrests.

Last week, Kuria gave a public speech calling for a manhunt for Odinga’s supporters, who had greeted the court ruling with jubilation.

Two witnesses described a roadblock set up the next day near where Kuria gave his speech, where ruling party supporters checked the ethnicity of passengers in vehicles to see if they might be opposition supporters.

On Sunday, Muthama, a former senator for the opposition Wiper party, gave a speech peppered with insults aimed at Kenyatta.

In a televised speech yesterday, Kenyatta said his party might use its majority in the legislature to impeach Odinga if he won the new polls, scheduled for October 17.

“Even if he is elected, we have the opportunity in parliament within two months, three months to kick him out,” Kenyatta said.