Court detains eight Kenyan lawmakers over hate speech

Kenyan court has detained eight Members of Parliament for four days over charges of hate speech and incitement.

The court decision will allow further investigations into allegations of “hate speech” involving the eight MPs.

The development comes on the back of growing tensions in the country and weeks of violent protests with over a year to national elections in the East African country.

The prosecution had pushed for a four-day detention, arguing that the period was sufficient for a forensic analysis of the statements by the MPs, which were captured on video, in order to come up with foolproof charges to guarantee a conviction.

The eight MPs, including four pro-government and four opposition members, were picked up by police after they were alerted to remarks by the politicians said to be “laced with ethnic hatred, vilification and bordering on incitement”.

They include Moses Kuria, Ferdinand Waititu, Kimani Ngunjiri, Timothy Bosire and Junet Mohamed.