KISII, Kenya, Feb 27 \u2013 Residents of Nyaribari Chache Constituency have staged protests at Keumbu Market following alleged racist remarks by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua targeting area MP Zaheer Jhanda during an opposition tour in Kisii on Monday.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators, largely traders and mama mboga, accused Gachagua of making derogatory statements that demeaned both their elected leader and the constituency. They described the remarks as discriminatory and divisive, calling for greater respect among leaders regardless of ethnic or social background.<\/p>\n
Addressing supporters during the rally, Gachagua was quoted as saying: \u201cSo you people of Kisii you didn\u2019t have an alternative and be governed by the Indian, you want me to laugh at you? The Indian should go.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comments sparked immediate outrage among residents, who termed the statement an attack on their identity and democratic choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe respect Fred Matiang\u2019i and he is our political kingpin, but we cannot allow the united opposition to insult our MP through racist language. Jhanda was born and brought up here; we have seen him grow and school here,\u201d said Winfridah Kerubo, one of the protesters.<\/p>\n
The residents have now called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to investigate the incident and take appropriate action, arguing that such rhetoric undermines national unity at a time when the country is pushing for cohesion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe elected Jhanda not because of his skin colour but because of his leadership. He has brought electricity, tarmacked roads and ensured equal bursary allocations. That is enough reason to re-elect him for a second term,\u201d said Mary Moraa.<\/p>\n
The remarks also drew condemnation from Huldah Momanyi, a Minnesota State Representative in the United States. Momanyi questioned the basis of attacking leaders based on appearance or ethnicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is laughing at Kisiis because one of their representatives doesn\u2019t look like them. Does that mean, as a Kisii elected in the US, I shouldn\u2019t govern people here?\u201d she posed.<\/p>\n
Momanyi further denounced hate speech and urged political leaders to promote inclusivity and mutual respect, warning that inflammatory rhetoric threatens social harmony and democratic engagement.<\/p>\n
The incident has intensified debate over ethnic politics and responsible leadership, with pressure mounting on authorities to address claims of hate speech and reinforce Kenya\u2019s commitment to unity and diversity.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KISII, Kenya, Feb 27 \u2013 Residents of Nyaribari Chache Constituency have staged protests at Keumbu Market following alleged racist remarks by former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua targeting area MP Zaheer Jhanda during an opposition tour in Kisii on Monday. The demonstrators, largely traders and mama mboga, accused Gachagua of making derogatory statements that demeaned both […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}