The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has unveiled a list of terms and phrases that it will consider hate speech ahead of the August polls.
The phrases, which are common among the political class, are said to target certain communities or individuals and have been considered a form of incitement.
“We have therefore taken the bull by its horns through this exercise of identifying terms and coded language that have been commonly used in Kenya’s political landscape with the intent to incite violence against various communities of differing political stances,” NCIC said in a statement.
NCIC chair Samuel Kobia however said that the list is not comprehensive, and will be updated from time to time.
“This remains a living document since the terms and coded language shall be regularly updated for use in the social media tracking of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission,” Kobia said.
Top among the list are words associated with top politicians in their day-to-day vote hunting missions, most of which are targeted at their opponents to demean them.
Among the words and phrases include hatupangwingwi, a slang word loosely translated to “we cannot be dictated”. The word has majorly been associated with Deputy President William Ruto and his camp, which is seen as a way of taking a swipe at the government.
Madoadoa (a Swahili word for spots) has also been banned, having been used both in the Ruto and ODM leader Raila Odinga’s camps.
Other terms that have been blacklisted include uncircumcised, fumigation, eliminate, kill, kaffir, chunga kura and kama noma noma.
Others include kwekwe, mende, operation linda kura, watu wa kurusha mawe, watajua hawajui, wabara waende kwao, wakuja (Those that come), Uthamaki ni witu (the kingdom is ours), kimurkeldet (Brown teeth), and Otutu Labatonik (uproot the weed).
