A collage of lawyer Ndegwa Njiru and Mukuruwe-ini MP John Kaguchia(mugshot)./FILELawyer Ndegwa Njiru, representing Mukuruwe-ini MP John Kaguchia, has rejected the English translation of his client’s alleged utterances presented before the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), urging the panel to hear the original Kikuyu recording.
Njiru argued that the commission should first establish what Kaguchia actually said in the vernacular before considering whether the remarks contained ethnic connotations prohibited under the National Cohesion and Integration Act.
He also questioned parts of the translation, saying some words attributed to Kaguchia were not contained in the recording he had heard.
“Our issue here is, first, let's satisfy ourselves. We only stop at the Kikuyu language. For example, there is this, ‘I promise we will track you down and smoke you out from under your bed.’ In that statement that you have read in Kikuyu, I have not heard that,” Njiru told the panel.
Njiru urged the commission to play the original clip and allow those present who understand Kikuyu to listen to the remarks before any interpretation is considered.
He argued that the commission should establish whether the utterances met the legal threshold for ethnic contempt or incitement under the law.
“We satisfy ourselves that those statements have an ethnic connotation, as the preamble of the Act speaks and as Section 13 speaks,” he said.
The lawyer also asked the commission to give Kaguchia a fair hearing, noting that the MP had not been found guilty of any offence.
The NCIC panel, however, maintained that the proceedings were intended to allow Kaguchia to respond to the allegations and that no finding had been made against him.
The commission said it was important for the public to understand the utterances that had prompted the inquiry, while stressing that Kaguchia had been invited to present his defence.
“It is important we give Kenyans a fair play to this so that they can also get to hear what it is that has put Mheshimiwa in the situation that he is. If you look at what and how we are engaging on this, we are simply giving Mheshimiwa a fair hearing. And that should go on record. We have not yet concluded. We have not yet implicated him. We invited him to come. And if you look at the letter, that letter is very clear. So we must give that clear letter play,” NCIC chairperson Kepha Omae said.
The dispute over the translation came as the panel sought to examine the alleged remarks and determine whether they fall within the conduct prohibited by the law.
Kaguchia has been in the spotlight this week following his arrest on August 3 over remarks he made at a political rally.
He was taken to court on August 5, where he was released on a Sh1 million bond or an alternative cash bail of Sh250,000 pending the hearing of the case.
