In response to a declaration of intent by President Uhuru, Governor Munya, NCIC Chair Francis ole Kaparo and others to combat hate speech during the campaign period that is most fertile period for its propagation, Raila argues he does not know what animal hate speech is and any effort to stop its propagation will amount to curbing freedom speech. I beg to differ.
First, I don't believe that Raila does not know what ethnic hate speech is. Certainly Raila knows what hate speech is but feigns ignorance because it is an ally in his political wars.
Let me reiterate here that negative ethnicity that hate speech propagates is the only demon and foe that comes to us as a friend, liberator and ally promising us power and heaven when its real intention is to give us hell.
But having spent many years fighting for freedom and democracy that have yet to be fully acquired, Raila ought to be in the forefront of fighting for these objectives whose leading foes are negative ethnicity and hate speech, not defending them in the name of free speech.
In case Raila has forgotten, hate speech is propagation of negative ethnicity, hate, ethnic divisions, genocide and holocaust.
Notwithstanding, my friend Raila seems to believe that all is fair in love and war which includes politics and in the hunt for votes, the end justifies the means, which include negative ethnicity and hate speech. But then the Bible asks, what would it benefit anybody, to gain the whole world but lose one's soul?
I could hardly believe when I heard Raila opposing intentions to fight negative ethnicity and its propagator hate speech arguing people should be free to engage in hate speech during the unfolding campaign period when negative ethnicity is most lethal.
At first I thought this was a slip of the tongue. Then I remembered that when eight legislators were arrested and detained in police custody, Raila stood firmly with them and never once condemned the offense for which they are undergoing prosecution. Now I believe Raila did not condemn hate speech then because he believes in it as a tool of Cord politics.
Whom then should Kenyans follow between Jubilee Alliance Party and its leaders who say that Kenyans should never again kill or spill the blood of one another either because of political or ethnic differences or Cord leaders who identify people by their ethnic names and forever hesitate to condemn negative ethnicity and hate speech?
Most Kenyans have already seen the dire consequences of hate speech during the 2007/8 post election violence that led to the deaths of more than 1300 Kenyans that resulted from negative ethnicity that hate speech propagated through vernacular radios, some English media and social media whose spread of negative ethnicity Raila is now defending if not propagating.
But our post election violence is not the only experience that can teach Kenyans why they ought to avoid negative ethnicity and hate speech like leprosy. In 1994, Rwanda underwent genocide of nearly one million people while under the intoxication of negative ethnicity. But before Rwanda, DRC had lost more than 3 million casualties of negative ethnicity while ethnic genocide killed more than 800,000 in Uganda.
When we suffered our genocide of 1333 Kenyans, we said Never Again but many don't believe it. Hence, we continue to be hypnotized by negative ethnicity with its promise of votes, power and the whole world.
Unfortunately, we know anything that negative ethnicity and hate speech promises will never be because it will be consumed by the Armageddon that negative ethnicity is certain to generate when it is finally embraced by all our leaders.
Eradication of negative ethnicity is the one thing that any worthwhile Kenyan leader should be willing to die and give up power for. We should therefore not propagate or protect hate speech. While it might get us elected as president, MPs, Senators and MCAs, its amalgamation will certainly consume our country Kenya.
If only Raila could believe in the elimination of hate speech, the crusade against negative ethnicity would be half won. Inshallah.
Koigi Wa Wamwere is a political activist and former Subukia MP
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