Waititu hate speech case adjourned, again
A hate speech and incitement to violence charge against Kabete MP Ferdinand Waititu was adjourned Monday after a prosecution witness failed to show up.
The prosecution said the witness, who is under state protection, had failed to honour summons and sought a further date for the proceedings.
The case had been scheduled before a magistrate at the Milimani law courts.
Mr Waititu is accused of uttering words which led to the deaths of two in Nairobi’s Kayole estate in 2012. He was then the Embakasi MP.
The matter was headed for an out of court settlement before the Director of Public Prosecution made a U-turn and opted out of negotiations brokered by the the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC).
This was even after the politician had publicly apologised to members of the Maasai community.
Mr Keriako Tobiko instead handed a rejoinder in court that the commission had no prosecutorial mandate and thus ill-advised to attempt to withdraw a criminal case, thereby setting the stage for Mr Waititu’s trial.
On Monday, prosecutor Ms Lilian Obuo requested for an adjournment in light of the absent witness amidst protests from a lawyer appearing for Mr Waititu.
The request was granted.