While IG Kanja and ODPP trade blames, hatemongers go scot-free

The National Police Service (NPS) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) are engaging in a blame game over the handling of hate speech cases as the country gears for next year’s election.

The differences which played out before the Senate Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration threaten to derail the crackdown on hatemongers, even as NPS seeks independent prosecution powers.

Senior Police Officers, among them Inspector General Douglas Kanja, Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat and Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations John Onyango, appeared before the committee chaired by Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute and accused the ODPP of delays in taking action on hate speech files.

Onyango told Senators that detectives have completed multiple investigations involving politicians and other influential people and forwarded the files to the ODPP for review, but no charges have been approved.

But the DPP has previously faulted investigators for submitting weak cases that cannot meet the legal threshold for prosecution.

“The Director of Public Prosecution has said that we are not taking cases to them for prosecution, which is not true. We have several cases currently in court, but the constitutional requirement that only the DPP can approve charges has created a bottleneck that allows suspects to escape accountability,” said Onyango.

Kanja asked Parliament to consider amending the law to grant the police the powers to prosecute cases they investigate.

READ: Police plan strict surveillance at political rallies amid incitement fears

Senators, however, noted that when the Director of Public Prosecutions previously appeared before the same committee, he blamed investigative agencies for forwarding incomplete files that fail to meet evidentiary standards.

Senator Chute said the DPP had told Senators there was “nothing being sent for prosecution,” highlighting the contradiction between the two agencies.

He said the stalemate has created what legislators described as a dangerous enforcement gap in the fight against incitement, especially during electioneering.

The Senators expressed disappointment at the slow pace of prosecutions, warning that the failure to secure convictions is emboldening political actors to deploy divisive rhetoric without fear of consequences, knowing very well that not much will come out of the cases.

Nominated Senator Catherine Mumma accused the police of lacking a clear strategy and appearing resigned to inaction, arguing that politicians now appear to be above the law.

“Selective enforcement has created fertile ground for ethnic incitement. Why do politicians appear to be above the law? There is no way you claim to be investigating statements that were made in public,” said Mumma.

Kanja warned that inflammatory utterances by politicians and other public figures are increasing as the 2027 campaign gatherings gather momentum, posing a direct threat to national cohesion and public order. He said such remarks are being made at rallies, public meetings, media interviews and on social media.

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The Inspector General of Police said they often encounter utterances involving ethnic stereotyping, disinformation, and coded messages capable of inciting hostility with the rapid spread of digital communication making these statements more pervasive and harder to contain.

The Senators questioned whether the low number of hate speech cases being handled by the police reflected weak enforcement or institutional paralysis, stating that there were many cases in the public domain which have not been acted on.

Kanja outlined steps taken to strengthen enforcement, stating that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had seconded 10 officers to the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to investigate hate speech cases.

He told Senators that the police had established a rapid response team for hate speech complaints and enhanced cyber-monitoring of online content while deploying digital forensic tools to authenticate social media evidence, besides the activation of toll-free reporting channels and community policing networks.

“The National Police Service Forensic Laboratory now conducts cyber-tracking of inflammatory posts and prepares forensic reports for court use, I would like to caution against the politicisation of enforcement, since it undermines public trust and weakens deterrence,” said Kanja.