National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has sounded an alarm over heightened political tension brought by the ongoing mass voter registration in the country.
The Commission’s chairman Francis Ole Kaparo expressed dismay at the manner in which politicians are using voter registration drive to raise political temperatures in the country saying the trend is not healthy for peace.
“We have never seen such a heightened politicking around voter registration drive like we are seeing today,” said Kaparo at a hotel in Mombasa where the commission is on a two-day meeting to strategies on how to enhance peace in the forthcoming election.
The chair said the commission is more than prepared to decisively deal with rogue politicians who are advancing divisive politics in the name of voter registration campaigns.
He cautioned that the Commission is already in the tendering process of acquiring special digital gadgets for hate speech monitoring and soon they will hit the ground running in all constituencies in 47 Counties.
The gadgets, he said have the ability to record and store heavy files of both audios and videos which will then be put subjected to thorough scrutiny to mark out any message related to hate speech mongering.
“It should be understood that election is not war but a democratic way to choose leaders. It should therefore not be used to divide Kenyans. But those who are not prepared to listen should also know that we are doing our job”.
According to Kaparo currently the Commission has recommended charges to more than 20 people over hate speech and 24 of them are in various court stages.
The Commission’s Vice Chair Irene Njeri Wanyoike on her part urged women and youth to reject being used by politicians and instead divert their energy to peace building.
