Galole MP Said Buya Hiribae was on Monday summoned by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to answer to charges of incitement to violence.
The legislator is expected to appear before the commission on Tuesday, October 8, to help in the investigations of a case of ethnic contempt.
In a summon addressed to the MP, the commission notes, “It has been alleged that you were adversely mentioned inciting residents of Galole Constituency in Tana River County to destroy Konakaliti Police Station in Kitui South.”
The summon goes on to state that the utterances are said to have incited feelings of hatred, contempt, hostility, violence, and discrimination amongst residents living along the border of Kitui and Tana River Counties.
Galole MP Said Buya speaks during a function on December 26, 2020.
Galole MP Said Buya
However, the legislator is not the only politician in the region who has been summoned over the same allegations.
In an almost identical letter, NCIC summoned Bangale Ward MCA Hon Jibril Mahamud Farah who also faces a similar case of incitement to violence towards his constituents.
“It has been alleged that you were adversely involved in inciting residents of the Katumba area in Kitui County against the construction of a police station in the region.” the summon read in part.
“These statements are reported to have incited feelings of contempt, hatred, hostility, violence, or discrimination among residents living along the border of Kitui and Tana River counties.”
Noting that all summons issued by the commission must be obeyed as per section 29 of the NCIC Act, the letter noted that failure to appear would be an offence punishable by law.
Although they are both to appear on October 8, the two will appear before the commission at different times as the MCA will appear first at 11.00 am while the MP will appear at 2.00 pm.
The two offences notably took place on different occasions when the legislators were addressing different constituents which is believed to have brought on tensions between members of the two different counties.
NCIC, whose main mandate is to promote national unity and harmony by promoting peaceful relations amongst communities, therefore, had to intervene before tensions boiled over.
The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Chairperson Dr Simon Kobia when he summoned leaders who were allegedly accused of instigating hate speech.
NCIC
