BY FELIX OLICK
One of the three musicians under probe by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has been arrested.
Kamande wa Kioi was arrested Thursday and will be arraigned in court on Tuesday to face hate speech charges alleged in his song.
A senior legal officer at NCIC who declined to be named said the other two musicians, Muigai wa Njoroge and John Demathew, will be arrested tomorrow if they fail to appear before the commission. He maintained that the songs contain utterances considered hate speech.
“From our analysis, the three songs contain utterances considered to be a crime under the law,” he said.
He disclosed that Gichugu MP Martha Karua and Nairobi politician Brian Weke are some of the complainants to the commission.
Karua complained that her image had been used in the video clips in the popular song Hague Bound as though she was accompanying the suspects to the ICC.
On Monday, NCIC Chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia said they were following up to find out whether the controversial songs had played on radio stations so that action could be taken against them.
According to the NCIC Act, if they are found guilty of hate speech, they will be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine of Sh1 million or both.
Kioi’s song Uhuru ni Witu (Uhuru is Ours) is said to be portraying Prime Minister Raila Odinga as the architect of the ICC cases against Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
