Kisumu wins hearts by showing that politics isn’t always negative

Kisumu, Kenya - During the recent visit to Kisumu City by President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kisumu residents proved that it is possible to play non-confrontational politics in this country.

 

This must have been to the chagrin of those who often view them as diehard stone throwers. One wishes that this show of magnanimity and tolerance marks the beginning of the end to political acrimony that has often dominated the relationship between the ruling Jubilee and the opposition CORD.

However, wishes alone cannot take us far. A number of deliberate efforts need to be made to ensure peace prevails during and after the next general election.

To begin with, our leaders on both sides of the political divide must refrain from constantly engaging in political rhetoric and chest-thumping often witnessed during public gatherings.

They should refrain from continuously playing politics of confrontation and the filibustering often witnessed in our National Assembly. More importantly, the legal mechanisms for dealing with hate speech should be less convoluted so that the culprits do not get away on technicalities.

In developed countries, issues of unfair discrimination, hate speech or harassment are handled by special courts, the equality courts.

These courts seek to achieve the expeditious and informal processing of cases which facilitates participation by the parties to the proceedings and to ensure access to justice to all persons in relevant judicial and other dispute resolution forums.

Lawyers are not necessarily needed in these courts and no fees are required to place a case.

Anyone can take a case to these courts even if you are not directly affected as long as you believe someone has been treated badly because of hatred or bias based on such factors as either race or social origin, religion, culture and the like. When one constantly derides an ethnic group for non-circumcision, this constitutes hate speech on the basis of culture and it does not require a complaint by the Law Society of Kenya to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission who would then make a recommendation to the Chief Magistrate to open a case.

Anyone from the aggrieved ethnic group should be able to place a case in an equality court. Since our current Constitution borrows some parts from such developed countries, how about establishing the Equality Courts?