KAIKAI’S KICKER: Incitement - Between Maiyo and Koech

On my Kicker, two Kenyans have exercised their freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and right to belief and opinion.

The first speaker, Nelson Koech, is a Member of Parliament, chairperson of the National Assembly Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, and a man of significant connections to the political power centre.

The second speaker is new to many Kenyans, including me. He is called Godfrey Mwasiaga Kakan Maiyo, a young man who posted his opinion on TikTok—an opinion that earned him a visit by officers of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

From his post, Maiyo is extremely upset with the spate of abductions in Kenya, and his sense of justice is unmistakably strong.

Now, for this admittedly fiery, justice-and-fairness-spirited post, Maiyo was arrested by the DCI for ostensibly inciting violence against the police.

Never mind that some of the consequences Maiyo is evoking are divine and unspecified. He is inviting—or is it inciting—God the Almighty to deliver justice for families of victims of abductions.

“The wrath of God is upon this government. When it strikes, none of you who have been involved in the abductions of Kenyans will survive. Your families will cry the same tears these families have cried,” Maiyo says.

“No amount of arrest, abduction, or killing will silence Kenyans. It is a waste of time.”

Now, in dashing to arrest this young man, the authorities are yet again missing another opportunity to do nothing but listen.

A young man has expressed something he felt very strongly about. What if this is exactly how a million other young Kenyans feel? How many DCI raids would fix that?