A 26-year-old man was arrested and arraigned in an Eldoret Court over hate speech charges brought against him by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).
Operations conducted in Kesses Sub-County in Uasin Gishu County, helped NCIC investigators track down Meshack Kipchirchir Korir who had posted a hateful comment on Facebook.
A mobile phone service provider and the Office of Registrar of Persons identified the suspect leading to his arrest.
Mr Korir, in June 2016, posted: "Watu wahame waende wakafanye upuzi Central. Wamesikia kuna wakalee kwao? (Some people should leave the county and go apply their stupidity in Central. Have they seen any Kalenjins in their home?)"
He violated section 62 (1) of the NCIC Act No. 12 of 2008, which describes ethnic hatred as: "hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins."
Korir pleaded not-guilty to the charges pleading with the court to release him on bail so that he may access witness statements and information from his mobile service provider that would help him build his defence.
Chief Magistrate Charles Obulutsa, however, denied the request observing that the case needed to be expedited and concluded before the General Election as per Chief Justice David Maraga's directive.
As provided by the Hate Speech law, Magistrate Obulutsa slapped the accused with a Sh1 Million bond with an alternative of Sh500,000 cash bail.
The case will be mentioned on July 31, 2017, ahead of a hearing next month on August 1.
The NCIC on Monday announced strict measures that will see WhatsApp group administrators arrested if hate speech is posted on their groups.
Read More: Kenya's Whatsapp Users Warned
