Hate Speech In Kenya

Hate speeches is the foremost driver of violent conflicts (CITAD, 2016). It precedes election violence. Research have shown that in most countries where the people and their political class have not been able to curtail the use of hate speeches in campaign and political activities, the end have always been disastrous. This is because most often, those seeking certain political powers have been reckless in the use of language so much so that (knowingly or unknowingly), they denigrate a particular person or a group on the basis of race, colour, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or other characteristic. This was the case in Kenya and Rwanda (Akubor, 2015) and Cote d’Ivoire. In the case of Kenya, it has been

It is doubtful if there will be hate-motivated violent attacks on any group without hate speech and the hatred it purveys. A careful analysis of the Ahmed Lemu’s Panel Report on the 2011 post-election violence in Nigeria shows that hate speech played a major role in inciting people against one another. As a result of this, according to the report, more than 1000 persons were killed across the country with Kaduna State having the highest casualties of about 847 during the post-election violence of 2011 (Akubor, 2015). The use of hate speeches in Nigeria preparatory to general elections has become notorious to an extent that you would think and feel that sooner rather than later Nigeria may witness genocidal killings similar to what occurred in Rwanda some few years back between the Hutus and Tutsis Kukah H

That is, crises caused hate speeches and disrespect for opposition party might bring a democratic process to an abrupt end and pose serious setback to national development. For instance, the collapse of the First Republic due to military interregnum of Nigerian politics affected the country negatively while the subsequent Nigeria/Biafra Civil War wound back the country’s development as it caused the destruction of lives and property and the stoppage of economic activities. Countries experiencing political crises are usually politically retarded, economically backwards and technologically lagging. Countries like Cambodia, Sudan, and other war-ravaged countries are good