MP fights back on hate speech charges

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By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU ashiundu@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, August 13  2012 at  12:45

Limuru MP Peter Mwathi on Monday accused the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) of malice in the way it carried out investigations on the hate-speech allegations against him.

The MP said that the NCIC has been frustrating his efforts to seek audience with them in response to their summons and that he learnt of the impending charges through the media.

Addressing a news conference in Parliament buildings in Nairobi, Mr Mwathi said the NCIC summoned him on April 17 this year. But left the country two days before the meeting for an official trip in South Africa and then on to India. He returned to Nairobi on April 30.

Mr Mwathi cited a letter from the NCIC secretary, Mr Hassan Mohammed, written on June 4 that claimed he (Mwaithi ) had appeared before commission with the promised to come back the following day.

The alleged letter stated: “You were summoned to appear at the commission’s offices …on April 17 at 9am, which you did and promised to come the following day, April 18, with a legal representative,” reads the letter from NCIC that Mr Mwathi issued at yesterday’s news conference."

“That is not factual as I was out of the country at that time. I do not understand who it is they’re saying they met. I want them to tell me who they met,” said Mr Mwathi.

The MP said he tried to book an appointment with the commission secretary to discuss the summons issued following complaints about hate speech that he made in Meru in February this year at a prayer meeting for the high-profile Kenyan politicians with pending cases at the International Criminal Court, at The Hague.

Mr Mwathi said he then went to the NCIC offices in Nairobi’s Upperhill Area, “but I only found a secretary. There were no commissioners”.

The Limuru MP spoke a day after the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Keriako Tobiko approved his prosecution. The MP said he was innocent, and that he did not know why he had been summoned in the first place.

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“Whoever, it is, whether the DPP or the NCIC, why are they doing their investigations in such a mysterious manner, as if I do not have rights. I am a Kenyan and I deserve a right of reply,” Mr Mwathi told journalists at Parliament buildings.

“If we’re going to court, I also need my rights respected. I will go to court,” he added.

The Limuru MP added: “I need them to tell me what the hate-speech was; and where it was made. I harbor no hate for any individual of any colour, race or creed. I remain truthful to myself and I have been focused in my utterances.”

The DPP also recommended the prosecution of Nairobi Metropolitan Development Minister, Mr Jamleck Kamau.