Chief Justice Martha Koome has called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to take a firm stand against incitement, hate speech, and ethnic profiling.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 2, during the swearing-in of the new NCIC CEO, Koome urged the commission to be bold in addressing early signs of political tension.
“As we observe the early signs of political mobilisation and continue to hear increasingly of very diverse rhetoric both in public forums and on social media platforms, I urge the commission to be bold and unwavering in addressing any sign of incitement, any sign of hate speech, and any sign of ethnic profiling,” she said.
She warned the commission that failure to act could have the potential harm to national unity and threaten peace and stability.
"These actions, if left unchecked, as we all know, have the potential to heroin our national public and threaten the peace and stability that we have worked so hard to nurture,” Koome added.
She also reminded NCIC officials that there must be defined collective courage and individual courage by clarity of purpose and deep commitment to national service.
“The work of NCIC must therefore be defined by your collective courage and individual courage by clarity of purpose and deep commitment to national service."
"You must always work with impartiality and integrity, holding accountable those who violate the principles of cohesion and peaceful coexistence regardless of their status or political affiliation.” She noted.
Koome assured the Commission that the judiciary would support and collaborate with NCIC to fulfill its mandate.
“As the judiciary, we affirm our commitment to supporting NCIC in fulfilling your mandate. We remain ready to collaborate with you, particularly through the framework of the National Council on the Administration of Justice, where we all belong, where we all collaborate to see how best to serve Kenyans in our respective organisations or agencies."
"So we will continue to work with other agencies across the justice sector in promoting the rule of law and effective administration of justice," she said.
Daniel Mutegi Giti was sworn in as the new NCIC chief executive officer at the Supreme Court and will serve a 3-year term that is subject to renewal. Giti replaced Harrison Kariuki, who has been in the acting capacity for the past two years.
