A Kenyan Member of Parliament was on Friday arrested and charged with ethnic contempt over remarks he made at a rally two weeks ago.
Junet Mohamed, MP for the western constituency of Suna East, was arrested at a road block and questioned by the country’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
He was later arraigned in court and released on a $1,000 cash bail.
Junet is allied to the opposition NASA coalition led by veteran politician and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Mohamed was accused of uttering words that contravened the National Cohesion and Integration Act while addressing a political gathering.
Junet is reported to have warned the country’s electoral commission to ensure fair elections, saying that Raila would be sworn in separately, and would lead only a section of the country.
He said that is the elections were not conducted in a manner deemed fair, there would be a repeat of the post-election chaos that rocked the East African nation after the 2007 poll which former president Mwai Kibaki won.
This is not the first time Mr Mohamed has been arrested over remarks deemed as incendiary.
The hearing will be on October 24.
Kenya will conduct its general elections on August 8, with President Uhuru Kenyatta running for a second and final term.
Uhuru will mainly be challenged by Raila Odinga, though the total number of presidential candidates is eight.
More that 19.6 million Kenyans are registered to vote in the election.
The European Union has reported that tensions are high in the country, though most Kenyans remain optimistic that the vote will go on peacefully.
