Mukurweini MP John Kaguchia has been ordered to withdraw and apologise for remarks that the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) found to have threatened and targeted people over their political choices.
In a determination issued on Wednesday, October 7, the commission found Kaguchia guilty of making threatening, intimidatory and coercive statements against supporters of “Kasongo”, saying the remarks exposed them to the risk of intimidation, social exclusion and harm.
NCIC said the statements, made during a political gathering in Kieni, Nyeri County, on or about August 1, 2026, encouraged listeners to identify and pursue people because of their political allegiance.
The commission said the remarks also called for supporters of “Kasongo” to be denied communal support during funerals, dowry ceremonies and periods of illness.
According to NCIC, the statements went beyond political criticism and sought to punish people for exercising their right to support leaders of their choice.
It said the remarks created “a real and reasonably foreseeable risk of intimidation, exclusion and harm to peaceful coexistence”.
In its certified translation of Kaguchia’s speech, the commission said he promised that supporters of “Kasongo” or “Kasongo’s people” would be followed and removed from beneath their beds.
The speech also proposed keeping records of people who supported “Kasongo” and called for their exclusion from forms of communal assistance during death, marriage and illness.
“The Commission found that the speech called for people to be identified, pursued and socially punished because of their political choice,” the determination said.
NCIC said the promise to follow supporters and remove them from beneath their beds amounted to intimidation, while the proposed keeping of records and withdrawal of communal support were methods of applying collective pressure.
Kaguchia appeared before the commission on August 31 accompanied by his advocates as the inquiry into the remarks proceeded.
His lawyers challenged the English translation used in the summons and asked NCIC to defer the matter, citing related criminal proceedings.
Kaguchia did not make a substantive statement before the commission. Instead, he relied on his right to remain silent and his privilege against self-incrimination.
The commission said it did not draw any adverse conclusion from his decision to remain silent, stressing that its determination was based on evidence obtained independently.
“On the balance of probabilities, the recording established that Hon. Kaguchia made the utterances,” it said.
NCIC also rejected the argument that the criminal proceedings automatically barred it from continuing with its administrative inquiry.
The commission said the two processes deal with different questions, operate under different standards and can result in different remedies.
Following its determination, NCIC issued a cessation notice under Section 25(2)(s) of the National Cohesion and Integration Act.
The notice directs Kaguchia to immediately stop making, repeating, publishing, endorsing or encouraging the statements in question or any threats carrying a similar effect.
He has also been ordered to clearly withdraw his calls to record, follow, remove or deny communal assistance to people because of their political choices.
As part of the measures, NCIC has directed the MP to issue a public retraction, apology and corrective statement in Kikuyu, Kiswahili and English.
The statement must affirm the right of every person to support a leader or candidate of their choice without facing intimidation or exclusion from communal activities.
NCIC specifically listed funerals, dowry ceremonies, assistance during illness and other forms of communal participation among the activities from which people should not be excluded because of their political choices.
The commission has further directed Kaguchia to take part in restorative peacebuilding and social cohesion activities at his own reasonable cost.
He has seven days from the October 7 determination to communicate whether he accepts the measures or wants to propose variations to them.