NCIC: Kenyans turn to coded language ahead of polls

By LILLIAN ONYANGO laonyango@ke.nationmedia.com  ( email the author)

Posted  Thursday, February 7  2013 at  13:19

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Kenya's cohesion body has reported an increase in use of stereotypes and coded language as the country heads to elections.

In a study released Thursday, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) found that ethnic groups use code names to identify others and that while some are used positively; others are negative and generate "outright contempt".

“We commissioned this study because of the realisation that the work we started three-and-a-half years ago of trying to highlight to Kenyans the danger of hate speech is now threatened by coded language and stereotypes,” NCIC vice chairperson Milly Lwanga said.

She said Kenyans are more aware of the legal consequences of engaging in hate speech and have resorted to using coded language when referring to people of another ethnic group.

“Particularly now as we get into the elections, people are more aware of the comprehensive monitoring programme going on and are increasingly using coded language and stereotypes to try and isolate communities,” Ms Lwanga said.

Stir ethnic animosity

In its research, the NCIC found that though the coded language was seen to evolve, there are some words that are most commonly codified which they said can stir ethnic animosity and negative feelings towards the targeted communities.

They cited some words commonly used by ethnic groups such as “thieves” to identify the Kikuyu community and “uncircumcised” to portray the Luo “as children, premature and not fully developed".

“When such references are used, people tend to believe that that is the truth about that community,” Ms Lwanga said while giving examples of offensive common stereotypes.

Also, NCIC found that various groups refer to others as animals, smelly, foolish and bushmen among other offensive terms.

The commissioner warned that use of such language had reached “unpalatable” levels and compared it to the Rwanda situation where code names for the Tutsi and Hutu communities were widely used before the genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.

However, Ms Lwanga acknowledged that not all stereotypes are negative and that there are some that can be used positively.

“There are communities that are referred to in certain ways and it is very progressive and industrious ways creating unity,” she said.

“There are some that are thought of as loyal people, others educated and entrepreneurial, which give them good vibes and encourage other communities to relate with them.”

NCIC Acting Director of Programmes Julius Jwan said the research found that reports from the investigations of the 2007/8 post-election violence revealed that such language was used to invoke tension.

“The reports showed incitement against communities was based on stereotypes and coded language which may have pit them against each other,” Dr Jwan said.

He said such language is generally passed on from generation to generation making it difficult to contain.

The Commission recommends that the use of such language should be strongly discouraged and that communities should be educated on the dangers of using stereotypes.

The study was carried out in June-October last year in 39 counties and involved 1,233 participants.

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