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Jun. 17, 2017, 12:30 am
By STAR TEAM
Raila Odinga’s comments that “invading” outsiders should stop moving into Maasai lands have triggered accusations of hate speech and incitement.
President Uhuru Kenyatta says the NASA presidential flagbearer is calling for violence.
The Jubilee Party has written to the NCIC, demanding Raila be muzzled, lest the country be plunged into ethnic violence.
“It only requires a very small match to start a very large and dangerous fire. With this comments, Odinga has struck that match,” Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju told the NCIC.
Read: Raila treading path that will lead to violence
However, this is about interpretation and context and Raila’s handlers say his comments should not be distorted.
Campaigning in Kajiado on Thursday, Raila said poverty had forced Maasai to sell land. Should he win, his government will end land sales to outsiders, the ODM chief said.
The former Prime Minister said, “Hao ndio wamekuja kuvamia, kuvamia, kuvamia, mpaka sasa hakuna shamba. Sababu ya ufukara. Hio tunataka kubadilisha. Tunaweza kubadilisha hio ili watu wasiuze mashamba yao. Sababu gani wanakuja kwako? Si abaki kule kwao? Hio ndio sababu tunasema tarehe nane mwezi wa nane mwaka huu ni siku ya mabadiliko, siku ya ukombozi was tatu ya Kenya na ya mwisho.
“They are the ones who have come to invade, invade, invade until now there’s no land because of poverty. That we want to change. We can change that so people do not sell their land. Do not sell your land. Why do they leave where they come from and come to your land? Shouldn’t they remain on their land? That is why we are saying August 8 is a day of change, the third and final revolution.”
Uhuru told a rally in Bomet on Friday Raila was treading the same path he followed when ethnic violence erupted after the 2007 election.
“Yesterday (Thursday), he was talking about “wenye inchi and wenye wanafaa kurudi kwao” (“those who own the land and those who should return to where they came from”). That’s the same language he used to create conflict the last time,” the President said.
On Thursday, Uhuru warned Kericho to beware of opposition plots to reignite violence.
In a quick rejoinder, Raila accused Uhuru of scaremongering “in the face of stiff challenges arising from the people’s disappointment with the Jubilee administration”.
Through spokesman Dennis Onyango, he denied asking communities to return to their ancestral lands. “Raila has made no such utterances. The diversity of Raila’s support base alone militates against him making such utterances. The President’s remarks are therefore far-fetched and smack of desperation,” Onyango said in a statement. “Under pressure, President Kenyatta is creating imaginary scenarios and enemies and proceeding to respond to them.
Raila finds such gasps of outrage rather hollow and unfortunate, particularly from the President whose office is supposed to embody unity and certainty,” Onyango said.
Read: 'Desperate' Uhuru spreading rumours, Raila says over incitement
NCIC chairman Francis Kaparo asked Uhuru, Raila and all presidential candidates to curb their tongues.
“Those seeking the presidency should always preach peace and pull the country together. Reckless utterances from both sides of the political divide are worrying and the commission is investigating a number,” Kaparo said.
Kajiado Senator Peter Mositet said Raila was wrong to make such comments instead of preaching tranquility. He defected from Jubilee to ODM after losing JP’s Senate ticket.
“Leaders should refrain from alarming statements that can cause disharmony,” he said.
Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe said Raila does not understand the concept of willing buyer willing seller, in which people exchange property for money.
“He is ignorant of the relationship between Kikuyu and Maasai. Since time immemorial, we have always been one community in two languages. The level of intermarriage is probably Kenya’s highest,” Kagwe said.
“This is complete, total hate speech and nobody is above the law. [This] is akin to preparing for genocide,” he said.
Kagwe said the Constitution allows any Kenyan to own property anywhere. “Raila’s own house in Karen and his company Spectre International in Industrial Area are on land originally part of Maasai country. He is part and parcel of the people buying from them,” the senator said.
“The last time, he (Raila) said people shouldn’t pay rent and some landlords are still dealing with the effects of that. Raila is hostile to development,” Kagwe said.
Tuju told the NCIC, “With only 52 days to election, we consider former Prime Minister Odinga’s use of irresponsible and inflammatory language will ignite tensions within communities and can only be regarded as hate speech.”
Copies were sent to LSK, the IEBC, heads of diplomatic missions, KNHCR and religious organisations.
“It is the responsibility of all good people never to be silent when we recognise some seek to take us down a dangerous path that could destroy this country,” Tuju wrote.
Nominated MP and JP Nairobi senator aspirant Johnson Sakaja said Raila “has crossed the red line and should be tamed”.
“We all have the experience. People have lost loved ones. People have been maimed. People have been injured. Scars exist. Even within the context of the power struggle, there is a line we cannot allow any politician to cross,” Sakaja said. Raila was recently embroiled in another controversy when he was quoted as saying he will dismantle white-owned ranches in Laikipia to prevent chaos, if elected.
Some Laikipia ranges have been invaded by armed herders and bandits, leading to violent confrontations with landowners. One foreign-born rancher was killed, another wounded.
“These ranches are too big and the people don’t even live there; they live in Europe and only come once in a while,” he told The Times.
“There’s need for rationalisation to ensure there’s more productive use of that land.”
Raila denied making the remarks, saying he was misquoted but the interviewer said she had quoted him accurately.
Uhuru tells off Raila over talk of land invasion
By STAR TEAM
Raila Odinga’s comments that “invading” outsiders should stop moving into Maasai lands have triggered accusations of hate speech and incitement.
President Uhuru Kenyatta says the NASA presidential flagbearer is calling for violence.
The Jubilee Party has written to the NCIC, demanding Raila be muzzled, lest the country be plunged into ethnic violence.
“It only requires a very small match to start a very large and dangerous fire. With this comments, Odinga has struck that match,” Jubilee secretary general Raphael Tuju told the NCIC.
Read: Raila treading path that will lead to violence
However, this is about interpretation and context and Raila’s handlers say his comments should not be distorted.
Campaigning in Kajiado on Thursday, Raila said poverty had forced Maasai to sell land. Should he win, his government will end land sales to outsiders, the ODM chief said.
The former Prime Minister said, “Hao ndio wamekuja kuvamia, kuvamia, kuvamia, mpaka sasa hakuna shamba. Sababu ya ufukara. Hio tunataka kubadilisha. Tunaweza kubadilisha hio ili watu wasiuze mashamba yao. Sababu gani wanakuja kwako? Si abaki kule kwao? Hio ndio sababu tunasema tarehe nane mwezi wa nane mwaka huu ni siku ya mabadiliko, siku ya ukombozi was tatu ya Kenya na ya mwisho.
“They are the ones who have come to invade, invade, invade until now there’s no land because of poverty. That we want to change. We can change that so people do not sell their land. Do not sell your land. Why do they leave where they come from and come to your land? Shouldn’t they remain on their land? That is why we are saying August 8 is a day of change, the third and final revolution.”
Uhuru told a rally in Bomet on Friday Raila was treading the same path he followed when ethnic violence erupted after the 2007 election.
“Yesterday (Thursday), he was talking about “wenye inchi and wenye wanafaa kurudi kwao” (“those who own the land and those who should return to where they came from”). That’s the same language he used to create conflict the last time,” the President said.
On Thursday, Uhuru warned Kericho to beware of opposition plots to reignite violence.
In a quick rejoinder, Raila accused Uhuru of scaremongering “in the face of stiff challenges arising from the people’s disappointment with the Jubilee administration”.
Through spokesman Dennis Onyango, he denied asking communities to return to their ancestral lands. “Raila has made no such utterances. The diversity of Raila’s support base alone militates against him making such utterances. The President’s remarks are therefore far-fetched and smack of desperation,” Onyango said in a statement. “Under pressure, President Kenyatta is creating imaginary scenarios and enemies and proceeding to respond to them.
Raila finds such gasps of outrage rather hollow and unfortunate, particularly from the President whose office is supposed to embody unity and certainty,” Onyango said.
Read: 'Desperate' Uhuru spreading rumours, Raila says over incitement
NCIC chairman Francis Kaparo asked Uhuru, Raila and all presidential candidates to curb their tongues.
“Those seeking the presidency should always preach peace and pull the country together. Reckless utterances from both sides of the political divide are worrying and the commission is investigating a number,” Kaparo said.
Kajiado Senator Peter Mositet said Raila was wrong to make such comments instead of preaching tranquility. He defected from Jubilee to ODM after losing JP’s Senate ticket.
“Leaders should refrain from alarming statements that can cause disharmony,” he said.
Nyeri Senator Mutahi Kagwe said Raila does not understand the concept of willing buyer willing seller, in which people exchange property for money.
“He is ignorant of the relationship between Kikuyu and Maasai. Since time immemorial, we have always been one community in two languages. The level of intermarriage is probably Kenya’s highest,” Kagwe said.
“This is complete, total hate speech and nobody is above the law. [This] is akin to preparing for genocide,” he said.
Kagwe said the Constitution allows any Kenyan to own property anywhere. “Raila’s own house in Karen and his company Spectre International in Industrial Area are on land originally part of Maasai country. He is part and parcel of the people buying from them,” the senator said.
“The last time, he (Raila) said people shouldn’t pay rent and some landlords are still dealing with the effects of that. Raila is hostile to development,” Kagwe said.
Tuju told the NCIC, “With only 52 days to election, we consider former Prime Minister Odinga’s use of irresponsible and inflammatory language will ignite tensions within communities and can only be regarded as hate speech.”
Copies were sent to LSK, the IEBC, heads of diplomatic missions, KNHCR and religious organisations.
“It is the responsibility of all good people never to be silent when we recognise some seek to take us down a dangerous path that could destroy this country,” Tuju wrote.
Nominated MP and JP Nairobi senator aspirant Johnson Sakaja said Raila “has crossed the red line and should be tamed”.
“We all have the experience. People have lost loved ones. People have been maimed. People have been injured. Scars exist. Even within the context of the power struggle, there is a line we cannot allow any politician to cross,” Sakaja said. Raila was recently embroiled in another controversy when he was quoted as saying he will dismantle white-owned ranches in Laikipia to prevent chaos, if elected.
Some Laikipia ranges have been invaded by armed herders and bandits, leading to violent confrontations with landowners. One foreign-born rancher was killed, another wounded.
“These ranches are too big and the people don’t even live there; they live in Europe and only come once in a while,” he told The Times.
“There’s need for rationalisation to ensure there’s more productive use of that land.”
Raila denied making the remarks, saying he was misquoted but the interviewer said she had quoted him accurately.
Uhuru tells off Raila over talk of land invasion
