NCIC Seek To Rename 10 Counties

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has disclosed its intention to petition Parliament to rename counties with ethnically–inclined names.

The NCIC Chairperson Samuel Kobia said Tuesday that the initiative aims to promote national unity and cohesion by reducing ethnic division for all Kenyans.

“In the implementation of the recommendations of our Ethnic and Diversity Audit 2023 for County Public Service, NCIC shall advocate for tabling of a motion in Parliament for renaming counties that are identified by specific ethnic groups to eliminate potential discrimination along ethnic lines,” he said.

The targeted counties include Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nandi, Kisii, Turkana, Embu, Samburu, Taita Taveta, West Pokot, and Elgeyo Marakwet.

Commenting on the state of hate speech and ethnic contempt, Kobia said that the Commission has continued to monitor hate speech cases both on social media and other public platforms.

He noted that the cases have gone “down significantly” as a result of what he termed continuous engagement with the public on the need to mitigate hate speech and ethnic contempt.

Litigation

Kobia however pointed out that the Commission received 67 cases out of which 43 are under various stages of investigation while two cases are before court.

He added NCIC had concluded 13 cases and conciliated 13 others under provisions of the National Cohesion and Integration (NCI) Act, 2008.

Regarding social media platforms, the NCIC boss said the Commission flagged 44 cases on discrimination, 24 on incitement, six on hate speech, 93 on misinformation, and 68 on disinformation – totaling 268 cases.

The NCICI Chairperson expressed the Commission’s commitment to ensuring Kenya remains a peaceful society solidifying the gains made over the years.

“As such we have commissioned a study on the Social Cohesion Index to establish the state of Social Cohesion among various communities in Kenya,” he said.

Kobia committed to releasing the report within six months.