The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has provided an update on the status of hate speech cases it is handling. According to NCIC Chairperson Samuel Kobia, the commission has received a total of 67 cases.
Of these, 43 are currently under investigation at various stages. Two cases have been taken to court, 13 have been concluded, and 13 others have been resolved through conciliation under the NCI Act of 2008.
Regarding social media issues, NCIC flagged 44 cases related to discrimination, with specific breakdowns showing 24 cases related to incitement, 6 cases of hate speech, 93 cases of misinformation, and 68 cases of disinformation, totaling 268 cases. These cases have been reported and collected from November 2023 to the present.
A recent case involves Dadaab Member of Parliament Farah Maalim, who was summoned by the Commission to clarify controversial remarks he made about the recent protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
NCIC is investigating statements attributed to the MP in Somali language, where he allegedly mentioned that he would ‘slaughter 5000 Gen Z protesters’ if he were president of Kenya.
NCIC stated that such utterances are likely to incite feelings of contempt, hatred, hostility, violence, or discrimination, thereby affecting harmonious coexistence between groups of different political affiliations in Kenya, which contravenes Section 13 (1) (a) of the NCI Act.
Despite the summons, the MP did not appear before the Commission on Thursday.
