Naivasha MP Kihara accuses Ruto, Omar of stoking ethnic hatred

**Naivasha MP Kihara accuses Ruto, Omar of stoking ethnic hatred**

Naivasha Member of Parliament Jayne Kihara has levelled serious allegations against President William Ruto and UDA Secretary General Hassan Omar, claiming the two are deliberately inflaming ethnic tensions as part of an early mobilisation strategy for the 2027 General Election.

Kihara, a veteran Rift Valley politician who previously served as Nakuru Woman Representative, made the accusations during a political gathering, warning that irresponsible rhetoric from senior government figures posed a direct threat to Kenya's fragile social cohesion. She called on the National Cohesion and Integration Commission to act swiftly on any statements found to incite division along tribal lines.

"Kenya has paid a very heavy price for ethnic politics. We cannot afford to go back there," she said, referencing the post-election violence of 2007–2008 that left more than 1,300 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands in a crisis that scarred the nation's democratic history.

The MP did not provide specific quotes or incidents attributed to Ruto or Omar but suggested a pattern of coded language in recent political rallies across the country. Hassan Omar, who doubles as Mombasa Senator, has been one of UDA's most combative voices in defending the party against opposition attacks.

Kenya has 44 ethnic communities, and political mobilisation along ethnic fault lines has historically been a feature of election cycles, particularly in the Rift Valley, Central Kenya, and Nyanza regions. The government has repeatedly pledged to build a politics anchored on ideology rather than ethnicity.

Neither Ruto's office nor Hassan Omar had publicly responded to Kihara's specific allegations at the time of this report. The remarks are likely to intensify debate about the standards to which senior officeholders should be held in pre-election discourse.