Defiant Ruto continues use of words banned by NCIC
Deputy President William Ruto has defiantly continued the use of words recently flagged by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) as hate speech ahead of the August 2022 polls.
Via a tweet on Monday, the DP, while welcoming Machakos governor Alfred Mutua to the Kenya Kwanza Alliance, used the word hatupangwingwi (no one can plan for us).
The people of Kenya have rejected blackmail, deceit and conmanship in our politics.Those who've taken our country hostage using patronage,force and impunity watajua hawajui na Wakenya hawapangwingwi.Karibu Gov Alfred Mutua & MCC party to Kenyan Kwanza family, the Hustler Nation. pic.twitter.com/tIXnNzxI0g
— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) May 9, 2022
The move by Ruto brought reactions from his followers on the social media platform with some suggesting the second in command should lead by example in following the rule of law.
I support you sir but what are you teaching your followers by using words that have been banned by NCIC? To be disobey orders?
— Kasee🇰🇪 (@mulu_u) May 9, 2022
NCIC recently released a list of what it claimed were words likely to elicit hate among Kenyans in the political season.
These words, NCIC chairperson Samuel Kobia explained, were deemed to have a negative mass effect and banned from being used to instigate any form of politically biased agenda or propaganda.
They include Sipangwingwi, Hatupangwingwi and Watajua hawajui loosely translated to mean no one can plan for us and they will know that they don’t know
Kobia noted these words are political expressions of hate that trigger dissonance among communities and political followers of various parties.
Ruto, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) partly leader has consistently used the words hatupangwingwi on several occasions supposedly as a show of defiance and to urge their supporters to reject alleged schemes by powerful figures.
The term was derived from the hit by Gengetone singer Exray.
Ruto has in the past told off NCIC arguing the move to ban these words were a ‘waste of time’.