Teso South Member of Parliament Mary Emaase has been arrested by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on allegations of making remarks bordering on hate speech.
A DCI officer privy to the case confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke that the legislator was accused of threatening the teachers posted to her constituency, warning that they would not be accepted to proceed to their duty stations.
She also ordered the immediate hiring of teachers from her region, contrary to regulations the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) relies on while posting teachers.
Emaase was whisked away by the detectives from her Nairobi-based home and taken to the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road for grilling.
DCI is yet to issue the way forward on whether she would be released or detained prior to her arraignment in court on Thursday, August 3.
In other developments, Emaase is said to have attracted backlash after she directed the teaching positions to be allocated to her county residents.
Her critics accused her of breaking Article 27 (4) of the Constitution, which advocates for impartiality.
"No person shall be discriminated against based on gender, colour, religion, conscience, marital status, pregnancy, health status, ethnic or social origin, colour, age, disability, culture, dress language or birth," the Article outlines.
The politician, who won her Teso South seat on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket in the August 2022 election, trounced her predecessor Geoffrey Omuse, former Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong, Maendeleo Chap Chap's Millicent Ekasiba, independent candidate Charles Omuse and KANU's Richard Ing’wali.
Emaase, who also doubles up as the Vice-chairperson of the Budget and Appropriations Committee, made a comeback to Parliament after losing the 2017 polls.
In March 2023, National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) warned politicians against propagating hate speech either at political gatherings or on their social media platforms.
“We developed tools, especially in the last elections, which we are still deploying today monitoring and making sure that their proxies, now their bloggers because we’re able to hold them accountable,” NCIC Commissioner Danvas Makori stated on March 29.
