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Kenyan Rights Commissioner Denounces âProvocative Statementsâ Ahead of
Referendum

   Peter Clottey 29 July 2010
   Brazil's  President  Luiz  Inacio  Lula  da Silva, left, is greeted by
   Kenyan  President  Mwai  Kibaki,  right,  at  the Nairobi State House,
   Kenya, 06 Jul 2010

Photo: AP

   Brazil's  President  Luiz  Inacio  Lula  da Silva, left, is greeted by
   Kenyan  President  Mwai  Kibaki,  right,  at  the Nairobi State House,
   Kenya, 06 Jul 2010

   The chairperson of Kenyaâs National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
   has  expressed concern that pronouncements by the president, the prime
   minister  as  well as other government officials could incite violence
   ahead of the 4^th August referendum.

   Florence  Simbiri-Jaoko has called on President Mwai Kibaki and former
   President  Daniel  Arap  Moi  to exercise restraint after both leaders
   traded  what  has been described as sharp jabs in the campaign for the
   4^th August referendum.

   âWe  have been monitoring the campaigns as well as the civic education
   and some of the things that the commission is concerned (with) are the
   type of language and especially inflammatory utterances that are being
   made  by  politicians  on both sides. Our concern is based on the fact
   that  in 2007, we witnessed similar utterances that eventually set the
   ground for the kind of violence that we saw during the 2007 election,â
   she said.

   The  KNCHR  said  President  Kibaki,  Prime  Minister Raila Odinga and
   William  Ruto,  Minister for Higher Education among others flouted the
   law while campaigning ahead of the referendum.

   Kenya's former President Daniel Arap Moi

   In  its  report,  the  rights  commission also accused several cabinet
   ministers,  legislators  and religious leaders from both the âYesâ and
   âNoâ  camps  of  offences,  including incitement to violence, uttering
   inflammatory  speeches,  peddling  of  falsehoods  and misuse of state
   resources during the campaigns.

   Chairperson Simbiri-Jaoko recalled that similar provocative statements
   nearly plunged Kenya into a deep crisis.

   âThat  is what we are afraid of because the fact of the matter is that
   when  you  use  inflammatory  language, when you stigmatize especially
   communities, chances are that people will feel dissatisfied with those
   kinds  of  utterances.  And  sometimes the manner in which they settle
   scores  is  by  attacking  members  of the opposite communities or the
   communities that they perceive as their rivals,â Simbiri-Jaoko said.

   The  commission  accused  President  Kibaki  of  breaking  the  law by
   creating  districts  and  elevating  a  teachers training college to a
   public  university  seen by analysts as a calculated ploy to win cheap
   support for his âYesâ campaign in the upcoming referendum.

   Prime  Minister Odinga reportedly told a rally that Kenyans will elect
   chiefs under the proposed constitution, while Mr. Ruto reportedly said
   at a prayer meeting that the document will allow homosexuality.

   KNCHR  chairperson  Florence  Simbiri-Jaoko  said her organization has
   documentary  evidence,  including  videos of politicians and religious
   leaders breaking the law.

   She demanded that Kenyaâs police prosecute the perpetrators.

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