Well kenya I tend to think is more democratic and heterogeneous than TZ. What is well known is that democracy in heterogeneous society will breed division/ethnicity/tribalism. That is true here, true in the US and true everywhere. In a country where people are free...they are free to even hate and spread hate. That is the price of democracy and freedom.
If you want KANU era of 80s (which is where TZ is still in) or Ethiopia or China...go ahead and say so.
In a democracy it better for one moses kuria to spread hate than for society to enact llaws that essentially infringe on freedoms and rights. Freedom of speech and right of expression as per our constitution are interperated widely -not narrowly. If there is any doubt of what Kuria meant --he gets away.
Sorry to "nit-pick", but you might want to broaden your horizons and look around, especially at relevant law and its enforcement in European countries and similar places. And it is also important to recognize that some of what passes for ("unlimited") freedom of speech in the USA is considered unacceptable in many places. For example, just north of the US border, it it has long been established, judicially, that freedom of expression does not include the freedom to publicly promote hatred against an "identifiable" group and that to do so is a serious crime:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_v_Keegstra(Since then, there have been more changes in Canada that make it even easier to legally deal with Kuria types.)
The Canadian Supreme Court, like many European courts, did not consider that dealing with people who publicly promote hatred would terribly "
infringe on freedoms and rights". The law does not take the view that it is somehow "
better to ... promote hate than ..."; the view, simply, is that publicly promoting hatred is not helpful and "freedom of expression" can and may be put aside in such cases. That seems quite sensible.
(Of course, Canadians are free to hate and to promote hatred in the privacy and comfort of their living-rooms and bed-rooms etc. But that's about it; there is no "freedom and democracy" beyond that.)
Quite a few European countries actually go well beyond that. No need to go to China or Ethiopia or wherever ...
Kenyans are late entrants in the Freedom-&-Democracy Games. They can learn from observing things elsewhere and reflecting properly, instead of mindlessly swallowing the idea that now anything goes. Kenyans need to get away from the influence of American films and TV shows on some of these matters and determine what is really needed in a country that has, for a long time, been riven by tribal hatreds.
The worst "aspects" of Kenyans tend to show up in "tribal" matters, even if there is no violence. And in the latter, it is not necessary to bring up certain recent reminders. Do people really need an explanation of where we can get to by throwing more flames on the fires of tribal hatred, especially by a person who seemingly has the full support of the president, is backed by all sorts of violent low-lifes, ....? What sort of Kenya do we
really want, and how do we get there? We need to reflect on that and move beyond half-arsed and unhelpful notions of "freedom" and "democracy".
