The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Chairman Rev. Samuel Kobia has called on Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party leader Raila Odinga to stop his planned political rallies for the sake of the country's stability and economic progress.

Rev. Kobia, speaking during a press conference held on Thursday, said NCIC has noted a growing trend of hate speech and incitement especially on social media.

He thereby warned that the commission will summon and investigate leaders suspected of the same, adding that their reports show that Kenyans have “no time and energy” for negativity as they’re busy trying to rebuild their livelihoods.

According to the NCIC boss, political leaders will be held personally liable for their utterances at political rallies, further that the country’s economy – if destroyed – will take a long time to recover and the consequences will be dire.

“It is disturbing to note that there is re-emergence of political incitement and hate speech by some of the political leaders. For instance, the commission through the social media investigation team flagged 10 hate speech and 20 misinformation cases as compared to 3 cases in November and December 2022. This is an indication that hate speech and ethnic contempt is as a result of the recent political rallies,” said Rev. Kobia.

“We would like to call upon the former Prime Minister to cease with his political rallies and any plans that might be there for demonstrations because Kenya cannot afford that when we’re living in such hard times, economically speaking.”

He added that: “Kenyans have said, according to the reports and evaluations that we have, that they want to be left alone to continue with their lives because they did their part; they voted.”