Former Laikipia Member of Parliament Mathew Lempurkel was on Thursday charged with hate speech.
Lempurkel was arraigned in court following his arrest at his home in Rongai, Kajiado County, on Wednesday.
The charge sheet read that on diverse dates between July 11th and 17th this year, during a TV show aired by MAA TV, the former legislator made inciteful remarks against one of the communities in Kenya.
According to the prosecution, Lempurkel referred to the community as “those people whose feet are infested with jiggers.”
He added, “all conservancies and ranches within Laikipia belong to the Maa community and that the investors may keep the land but the grass on those lands belong to the Maa community.”
Read: Three Police Officers Among Eight Killed in Laikipia Clashes
Police believe that the remarks fueled the ongoing clashes in Laikipia Nature Conservancy and its environs that have left at least eight people, including three police officers, dead and hundreds displaced in the last one month.
Lempurkel denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of Sh150,000.
The case will be mentioned on September 22, 2021.
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