Kiamba MP Paul Koinange who heads the National security committee proposes the National Cohesion and Integration Act be amended, to have class as a basis for incitement and discrimination. The law only touches on discrimination and incitement on the basis of ethnicity, race, nation, and religion. Not class.
The MP is backed by members of the committee after having a two-day retreat in Mombasa to deliberate through a number of Bills set to be tabled before the House in February.
“The NCIC (National Cohesion and Integration Commission) had requested for strengthening of the Act to make it harsher so as to deter hate speech. As part of that strengthening, incitement along class lines will come up.
“There is no difference between those inciting people along tribal lines and those doing so along class lines. The law needs to catch up with new forms of hate,” Mr. Koinange told a local publication on Monday.
Legislators want the class issue to be explicitly addressed and that the hustler vs dynasty narrative, as perpetuated by DP William Ruto and his allies, treated as hate speech with the potential to pit Kenyans against each other.
DP Ruto, a lead proponent of the Hustler Vs Dynasty debate has declared running for the top seat in 2022 and has promised all hustlers a space in his post-2022 administration. On political podiums, Ruto blames the ruling elite (dynasties) for all of Kenya’s problems.
Despite having worked with the dynasties all his political life (Moi, Raila, and Uhuru) the DP portrays himself as a hustler and identifies himself with the lower class, and now wants to speak for their sufferings, inciting them against the rich, from his 400million Karen residence.
“We have started witnessing splashes of violence based on the hustler vs dynasty narrative. It is very dangerous and can plunge the country into chaos,” Mr. Koinange said, warning that the narrative has the potential of driving the country into civil unrest.
