On Wednesday, pressure continued mounted for the arrest of Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu over allegations of hate speech targeting members of the Somali Community residing in the county.
A section of North Eastern leaders and Kenyans on Twitter made the demands amid pasture row between residents residing in her county.
An audio clip with a voice that resembles that of the governor was shared on Twitter in which a female speaker incites a crowd to take up arms and chase the invaders from Kambaland.
She goes on to say that she will bankroll Kamba men to deal with the invaders who are a bother to them.
“Don’t think those guns are powerful than our bows and arrows. I will leave you with money then we deal with these people. We are going to fight with these people. There is no other option.
“I am not lying to you. I will come young men from Mutha to come train them how to use a sow and arrow. To come train you how to use a gun so that we do away with these people.
“Men listen to me. Stop talking too much. I will leave my officers here to write down names and then they will be brought to me. We go train them. We buy them fighting equipment they come back to our land and deal with them,” the speaker is heard saying
She further states that “the constitution states that if someone attacks you, you can defend yourself. That’s what the law says and because these are people who are bringing us trouble, lets us deal with them accordingly”.
Kitu Governor Charity Ngilu should be in jail by now, She is inciting Kambas & Somalis. In this clip, she is asking her community to arm themselves with bows and arrows & finish Somalis. This is totally unacceptable. #ArrestKituiGovernor pic.twitter.com/1hJn0FtWqA
— Almamy Kalumanzillaa※ (@AlmamyMoha) September 24, 2019
Some netizens, however, defended the governor highlighting that the government had failed to ensure peace between the two neighbouring communities.
The governor was yet to comment on the issue by the time of publishing.
Before you judge Charity Ngilu you should also know govt forces have failed to protect people of Kitui County #ArrestKituiGovernor pic.twitter.com/eggdFSSU9z
— Julius Wambua 🇰🇪 (@juliuskitevu) September 25, 2019
THERE’S NOTHING like we Kambas, there’s only, We the People. When you signed up for the Constitution, you got born again. You rejected barbarity &embraced civility. You can’t tell us you’re open to incitement. That’s abandoning the faith. That’s not allowed. #ArrestKituiGovernor
— Steve Ogolla (@steveogollaw) September 25, 2019
Incitements by charity ngilu is uncorth unacceptable, Somali communities like any other citizens are entitled to freedom of movement and do there means of living anywhere in the country.
Incase of any violence about the utterance of charity ngilu should be treated seriously.
— young Bashane (@youngbashane) September 25, 2019
Tribal incitement is detrimental to societal progress ,therefore ,charity ngilu should apologize for inciting his people for a https://t.co/dCrU371RQ0 your region based on viable policies but not mere threats.#ArrestKituiGovernor
— Dennis Kipkemoi (@KipkemoiDK) September 25, 2019
Listen to both sides of the story before condemning Charity Ngilu. These somali herders have been harassing farmers and grazing their camels on their farm. I do not advocate for violence but something needs to be done. More police posts should be installed.#ArrestKituiGovernor pic.twitter.com/zkw5QOw4on
— Kipenjili 🇰🇪 (@Mutai_Toby) September 25, 2019
It took less than a day to arrest Starehe Mp Jaguar for inciting local residence against foreign invasion on their land …What Charity Ngilu did was reckless and could have easily led to unnecessary tension #ArrestKituiGovernor should have already been done by now @DCI_Kenya
— Adesh Oooo (@oer_adesh) September 25, 2019