Kenya: Feeling Unsafe or Your Peace is at Risk Ahead of August Polls? Send Text to 108 or 1547

5 July 2022
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Davis Ayega

Nairobi — Kenyans who feel their peace is at risk ahead of the August 2022 polls have been encouraged to report such situations by sending a text to 108 and 1547.

The National Early Warning and Early Response System (NCEWERS) is an initiative driven by the UWIANO platform for peace that brings together state and non-state organizations.

"We are accountable to safeguarding the peace and cohesion for the prosperity of all Kenyans from all walks of life," National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Chairperson Samuel Kobia said on Tuesday.

With 34 days to go before Kenyans cast their vote at the ballot in the high-stake polls, Kobia revealed that they have witnessed pockets of heightened tension in the country.

He pointed out that the tension has been fuelled by "hate speech and ethnic contempt with politicians inflaming ethnic passions through public statements and social media posts have been on the rise".

The platform decried that the social media is the most used tool that is triggering the unnecessary tension in the country.

In the month of June, the platform flagged 31 cases of hate speech in social media.

"As peace actors under the Uwiano Platform, we are concerned by the increasing number of hate speech cases in the social media platforms with chaotic rallies being a trigger for incitement on social media," Kobia said.

In the period under review, Twitter was identified to be the main platform for hate speech.

In the Twitter platform, UWIANO raised concerns on the sustained campaign by a section of Kenyans to discredit the credibility of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).

"Individuals running accounts that participate in campaigns aimed at discrediting institutions such as the IEBC, using disinformation and propaganda to be identified and prosecuted," Kobia said.

Uwiano membership is comprised of the National Steering Committee on Peace Building and Conflict Management (NSC) (co-chair), NCIC (co-chair), Peace and Development Network Trust (PeaceNet), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), IEBC,

Other members include: National Police Service (NPS), Office Of The Registrar Of Political Parties (ORPP), Council of Governors (CoG), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Media Council of Kenya (MCK), Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women.

The overall objective of UWIANO platform is to originate and coordinate initiatives aimed at conflict prevention and peace building in Kenya especially related to elections.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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