Lempurkel free of incitement charge

Former Laikipia North MP Mathew Lempurkel has been acquitted of incitement charges. Lempurkel was arrested on September 8, last year at his residence in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado county over violence which had rocked parts of Rift Valley. 

While delivering the ruling, Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi found out that the state failed to prove the charges against the accused and acquitted him under section 210 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).

Earlier, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji had introduced an additional charge of hate speech to the incitement charges the MP was facing.

The former lawmaker had denied that on July 17, 2021, during a television show aired on Maa TV made inciting remarks against a community residing in Laikipia county.