Parliament's National Security Committee plans to criminalise the hustler versus dynasty narrative, arguing that the remarks should be classified as hate speech.
Deputy President William Ruto is famous for using the narrative (hustler system) as a key philosophy in his 2022 elections strategy.
Ruto has severally defended the narrative, arguing that it was hinged on the bottom to top politics, where the common citizen had a say in government more than a politician.
The National Assembly committee, led by Kiambaa MP Paul Koinange, wants the National Cohesion and Integration (NCIC) Act amended to include class as a basis for incitement.
It explained that the law only recognised discrimination and incitement on the basis of religion, nation, race and ethnicity. Class, it added, had proven to be a recipe for clashes.
"There is no difference between those inciting people along tribal lines and class lines. The law needs to catch up with this new form of hate," Koinange said.
On January 27, 2021, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) noted that the narrative of dynasties and hustlers, 'the haves and have nots' had been used to divide people in political scenes worldwide for a long time.
Two differing groups clashed at a Nairobi club on Wednesday, January 20, with one party dubbed hustlers, attacking those they termed dynasties, who were accused of living a large life and supporting the Building Bridges Initiative.
Ruto's opponents have warned that the followers were misinterpreting the philosophy and it was not only turning each other but against the government.
President Uhuru Kenyatta said that Kenyan youth need jobs and not wheelbarrows in a thinly veiled attack on DP Ruto.
“Then you say we know the problem of Kenyan youth, that you want to help them by giving them wheelbarrows, who told you that the youth need wheelbarrows? What they need are jobs; they want to be independent.
"If you are truly intentional about helping the youth, how about you ensure that funds from the government actually get to the ground?” Kenyatta wondered while addressing political leaders at Sagana State Lodge in Nyeri County.
