Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua wants the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) to bar politicians who fuel violence and hooliganism from contesting elective seats in next year’s polls.
The governor says that the move will guarantee peaceful 2017 general elections.
Mutua who spoke during an interview on Radio Maisha on Wednesday claimed that some politicians are already fueling violence.
“We need the IEBC to be firm and take action against politician’s perpetuating violence,” he said.
The Machakos governor said that the country’s peace should not be negotiated. “Kenyans must be assured of peace as we approach the 2017 polls,” he said.
While condemning the burning of a vehicle after an ODM rally in Mathare on Sunday, Mutua said that some politicians have never learned from the 2007/2008 post election violence that rocked the country.
He said that a repeat of the same will be prevented if government institutions mandated to ensure law and order are firm.
Mutua at the same time asked the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to put in place mechanisms that will monitor perpetrators of hate speech.
He said that with 2017 election campaigns around the corner, some politicians may be tempted to start spewing violence.