The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has listed 10 counties that are experiencing rising political tensions between political party supporters.
Speaking on Tuesday, NCIC chairman Dr. Rev. Samuel Kobia said that there was heightened political tensions in Kisumu, Nairobi, Kirinyaga and Marsabit counties.
Other counties experiencing the same were Meru, Isiolo, Trans Nzoia, Busia, Nakuru and Narok counties.
"Through the NCIC’s Early Warning mechanisms that include cohesion monitors deployed in various counties and networks within UWIANO, we have thus established heightened localized political tension between political party supporters in Kisumu, Nairobi, Kirinyaga, Marsabit, Meru, Isiolo, Trans Nzoia, Busia, Nakuru and Narok counties,” Dr. Kobia stated.
He further noted that there were increased physical attacks on opponent supporters in Kibra, Jacaranda Grounds and Kisii Stadium.
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Dr. Kobia also noted that there was increased misinformation and disinformation on social media on political candidates, political parties and political coalitions.
Registrar of Political Parties Anne Nderitu, who spoke alongside the NCIC chairman, said that Twitter was the main platform spreading hate speech.
She stated that in June alone, 31 cases were flagged out with cases mainly linked to the Jacaranda rally contributing to the highest number of cases identified.
“Twitter has been identified to be the main platform for hate speech in the period under review, with a total of 16 cases compared with seven cases identified on Facebook and five cases on Tiktok. We are concerned by the increasing number of hate speech cases on social media platforms with chaotic rallies being a trigger of incitement on social media,” Ms. Nderitu stated.
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