The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) will train 1,000 police officers ahead of the August general election to deal with hate mongers.
The commission’s chairman Francis ole Kaparo said the officers will be trained on how to monitor war and hate mongers and collect water-tight evidence.
Kaparo said 250 officers have already been trained and equipped with voice recorders, cameras and other gadgets that will assist them in the fight against hate speech.
“We have been training officers on acquisition of hate speeches and ways in which they can properly present such evidence in courts. We have so far done trainings in 24 counties and we shall do similar trainings in the remaining counties. We have trained 250 police officers but our target is between 800 and 1,000 officers,” said Mr Kaparo.
Speaking in Mombasa during a two-day workshop to review strategies on peace building ahead of the elections, the chairman issued a stern warning to politicians spreading hate speech.
“The commission has partnered with the police, intelligence, civic societies, religious leaders and other players to monitor the situation closely in order to deal with the scenario before it escalates into chaos,” said Mr Kaparo.
He said the move was aimed at stopping the spread of hate messages perpetrated by politicians during the election period adding that the commission is determined to promote peaceful co-existence.
NCIC vice chairperson Irene Wanyoike said the commission is already monitoring a lot of election-related activities in all counties.
“We have been told the youth are used to cause violence but we also know that women are similarly used to create violence because of their influential position in the society. We shall be meeting women representatives from all Coast counties to build their capacity and ask them to help reduce conflicts ahead of the elections,” said Ms Wanyoike.