UWIANO Platform for Peace – an entity that brings together state and non-state organizations has committed to unmask the individuals who will be found running a smear campaign on the electoral body.
The peace platform now recommends a fine or jail sentence to those found guilty of discrediting the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission ahead of the August polls.
further, the platform noted that the sustained smear campaign against IEBC on social media is one of the roadblocks to peace during the election.
This comes from observation that this has been ongoing nationwide.
Speaking on the state of elections in the nation, UWIANO Principal and Chairperson of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission Samuel Kobia said the smear campaign aims to project the IEBC as incompetent, thus sowing doubt in citizens’ perception on the ability of the IEBC to deliver credible results they can believe in.
“The campaign to discredit the IEBC was well coordinated on Twitter, with evidence of artificial amplification of this message using manipulated/ photo shopped images and bot account,” Kobia said.
He pointed out that the tension has been fuelled by “hate speech and ethnic contempt with politicians inflaming ethnic passions through public statements and social media posts have been on the rise”.
The platform decried that the social media is the most used tool that is triggering the unnecessary tension in the country.
“As peace actors under the Uwiano Platform, we are concerned by the increasing number of hate speech cases in the social media platforms with chaotic rallies being a trigger for incitement on social media,” Kobia said.
He however said that there has been an improvement in cutting down on the vice.