Chama cha Mawakili has moved to court seeking orders to restrain the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) from implementing a ban on the use of “Sipangwingwi” and “Utajua hujui”.
This after NCIC in its report last week singled out the two words among others as likely to cause antagonism among Kenyans, saying they are used by politicians or people close to them to incite.
The group says a ban on the use these words will infringe on the freedom of expression, fair administrative action, equal treatment and benefit of the law, freedom and human dignity of Kenyans.
The group now seeks the court to institute judicial review proceedings to stop the implementation of the decision by NCIC to ban the use of these words.
They argue that Sipangwingwi” and Utajua hujui are aphorisms of freedom of expression used by Kenyans and well protected by Article 33 of the constitution and doesn’t amount to hate speech or abuse of power.
The group further states that the process leading to the decision is grotesquely flawed, irrational, illegal, unconstitutional and amounts to abuse of power.
They have now accused NCIC of purporting to ban words without any lawful justification and descending into the arena of politics and taking sides.
They further say it’s an abuse of power by the NCIC to classify words, arguing that the timing of the same is calculated to give certain political groupings undue advantage as the Country heads into elections.
The matter has been placed before justice Anthony Ndung’u
