"All the said members of parliament are required to appear before
the Director, Directorate of Criminal Investigations ... immediately,"
it said.
Kenya police summon politicians over "hate speech" allegations(Kenya-Today)
Kenya's police have summoned seven pro-government and opposition politicians for investigation over alleged "hate speech", flagging growing tension more than a year before elections and after weeks of deadly protests.
Ethnic
loyalties tend to trump policy matters in Kenyan politics. After a
disputed election in December 2007, incitement by rival camps was blamed
for stoking bloodletting between major ethnic groups that left 1,200
dead and hundred of thousands displaced.
The 2010
constitution that sought to reshape institutions and national politics
guarantees free expression but expressly outlaws ethnic incitement or "hate speech".
Incidents
of politicians drumming up support or stoking fears based on ethnic
allegiances continue to pop up in recordings or speeches on the
Internet, however, worrying many who fear renewed violence in the August
2017 race.
Police said in a statement late on
Monday they had been alerted to remarks by three pro-government
politicians and four from the opposition "that are said to be laced with
ethnic hatred, vilification and border on incitement."
"All
the said members of parliament are required to appear before the
Director, Directorate of Criminal Investigations ... immediately," it said.
The
2017 vote for president, parliament, governors and county assemblies is
expected to pit President Uhuru Kenyatta, a Kikuyu - the biggest of
Kenya's more than 40 ethnic groups, against Raila Odinga - a Luo,
another major ethnic grouping.
Odinga disputed the
2007 and 2013 election results, losing the latter to Kenyatta. Since
late April, he has led a series of almost weekly protests against an
electoral oversight body his supporters accuse of pro-government bias.
The oversight body denies this.
At least four people have been killed in the protests so far, in which demonstrators have often clashed with police.
On
the opposition side, the politicians named included Aisha Jumwa from
the coastal region and Timothy Bosire, a lawmaker from western Kenya, an
opposition stronghold.
On the pro-government
side, politicians included Ferdinand Waititu, a lawmaker now challenging
for a county governorship near Nairobi, and Moses Kuria, a lawmaker who
represents a constituency formerly held by Kenyatta.
Kuria has been embroiled in another "hate speech" case for almost a year. He denies the charges.
Kenyan
newspapers reported that Waititu and Kuria recorded statements at the
Directorate of Criminal Investigations on Monday. The men could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Opposition
lawmaker Junet Mohamed, who was also called for questioning, was
detained by police when leaving a building in central Nairobi after
giving a television interview, Kenyan media reported on Tuesday.
The report could not immediately be confirmed.
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