Cord MPs accused of hate speech that was widely ridiculed on social media in the past few days may expose dangerous weaknesses in initial police prosecutions and investigations.
The charges were widely ridiculed on social media prompting denials that they were not the final charges to be laid against them.
According to a criminal lawyer, Harun Ndubi most of the proposed charges were a figment of the imagination of the police who drafted them and others seemed forced.
“This is what we mean when we say taking one's imagination too far. Essentially, the charges were a figment of the imagination of the police who drafted them. You cannot purport to charge a person with incitement for merely calling on the president to fulfill his responsibilities,” Ndubi said.
The National Police Service (NPS), through the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, said the words were meant to incite the residents of Nairobi to violence.
The proposed charge sheet against Mombasa County MP, Aisha Jumwa said she uttered the words, “Moses Kuria has been appointed in the dialogue team. To have a person like him in the dialogue is a waste of time. No agreement can possibly be reached under Moses Kuria.”
In the charge sheet, police said Jumwa’s utterances implied an act which was calculated to incite to violence the residents of Nairobi.
Busia MP, Florence Mutua, Machakos senator, Johnstone Muthama and Suna East MP, Junet Mohamed were accused of uttering similar words in the alleged act of incitement.
In the proposed charges, police accused Mutua, Muthama and Junet of uttering the words: “If the Inspector General of Police Service will not speedily carry out investigations of the Jubilee MPs, I will lead a protest to the IG’s office and cause chaos.”
Police say they understood the words as inciting the residents of Nairobi to violence.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko said on Wednesday that his officers had nothing to do with the draft charges, distancing his department from them.