Concerns have started to emerge in the last stretch of the Msambweni by-election with a human rights organization claiming that some politicians have started to engage in hate speech and online propagated hate which is not healthy for the country.
The Msambweni by-election is slated for December 15 and it has seen politicians from different political affiliations engage in last time campaigns to make sure their candidates win.
But now, Human Rights Agenda (HURIA) an agency advocating for human rights wants the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to immediately commence investigations and take appropriate action on culprits.
Huria chief executive officer Yusuf Lule said they have been conducting online and offline monitoring of the campaigns and it has come to their attention that indeed there is a growing cases of hate speech online, and stereotypical messaging propagated in online and social media platforms.
“We are seeing a serious human rights violation. We have been keenly doing an online research, documented social media messages in various social platforms and discovered that they are posing a serious threat to the peaceful conduct of the by-election,” said Mr Lule.
The agency called for the an equal level electoral environment that will guarantee peace and free thoughts and decision of the Msambweni people and that they should be in any way feel intimidated by the politicians campaigning.
“Our fear as a human rights organization is that if actions will not be taken against the perpetrators of the hate speech then it would be a cause for violence and ethnic hatred. In this regards, then we want NCIC to take action against the “internet and keyboard warriors” attacking opponents and establish who sends them to those duties,” he said.
The by-election which was caused by the death of former Msambweni MP Suleiman Dori in March this year has seen Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and his Kwale counterpart Salim Mvurya showing their supremacy on the seat. Both leads different campaigns for their candidates.
Some of the candidates lining to replace Mr Dori include his nephew Feisal Abdhalla Bader who is running as an independent candidate.
He has support from Deputy President William Ruto, while his main rival Mr Omar Boga of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has the blessings of the party leader Raila Odinga.
Deputy party leader and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho is leading the ODM campaigns as Mr Bader campaigns are bolstered by former senators Johnson Muthama (Machakos), Hassan Omar (Mombasa) and Boni Khalwale (Kakamega). They are close allies to DP Ruto.
Governor Salim Mvurya and his deputy Fatuma Achani are also supporting Mr Bader.
