The National, Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has urged journalists and media houses to uphold their professionalism through responsible journalism, accountability and inclusivity to promote peace and cohesion among Kenyans. In a workshop which brought together Nandi based journalists and bloggers, NCIC commissioners Eng. Philip Okundi and Hon. Dorcas Kedogo said journalists should be responsible in their work by upholding their professionalism through media ethics and ensuring their content doesn’t cause any breach of peace.
The commissioners also warned bloggers and anybody fond of posting reckless messages on social media platforms which can trigger conflicts to be extra careful and shun such posts before they face the consequences. They revealed that Kenya needs peace and healing from the 2007/2008 post election aftermath, and is not ready to go back to the same, urging Kenyans to be on the look out.
They further called upon youths to avoid being used by politicians to destabilize peace instead they should be in the forefront championing for peace and unity. The commissioners revealed that the commission has initiated peace programs for those residing in Nandi-Kakamega and Nandi-Kisumu borders which for a very long time, have witnessed tribal clashes.
They blamed politics as the main root cause of this wrangles thus asks the politicians to stop divisive politics or any sensitive utterances that can trigger violence among the public appealing to members of the public and opinion leaders to assist the commission in identifying the main suspects of hate speech so as to face the full wrath of the law.