I once read that it takes years to build a forest, but a mere matchstick can burn it to ashes. When I look at our country today, nothing could be further from the truth.

This country has a history of hate mongering.

Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria, for example, has been making headlines with his outrightly inflammatory remarks, targeted towards the larger Luo community or Raila Odinga, who is an influential figure within the community.

Recently, he was quoted as saying that even if Raila Odinga was assassinated, members of his community would throw stones for a week and get tired.

In a civilised society such as Kenya, these are leaders we would rather hang than watch on our televisions, making remarks that can destroy the Kenyan forest; the forest we have built for 53 years and counting.

I did not lose a relative in the 2007/08 post-election violence, but I am sure that as I write this, there are families out there who have never recovered from the shock of the post-poll chaos.

I have, in my interactions with different factions of society, managed to see pictures of people who had their body parts chopped, their property destroyed, their kins and spouses murdered or maimed and even raped as they watched.

A majority of the affected were not necessarily people who were guilty, but victims of circumstances.

During the violence, your only crime was to be a son or daughter from Luo land and the violence found you in Kiambu or Murang'a. Your ticket to the morgue was to be called Mwangi or Kariuki in your national ID card and you found yourself in Kondele or Siaya or some parts of Rift Valley.

When you put yourself in the position of some of this people, you can do anything and not mind dancing yourself out on the graves of this batch of hate-mongers.

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If there was a point in this country with a hole so deep, I would not mind leading Mr Kuria therein, locking him up and throwing the key in the Mediterranean sea.

For a mama mboga in Kibera who makes a dollar a day from her business, teargas and live bullets are the least of her desires for this country.

This is true of school-going children, who only want to sit before their teachers and drink from the cup of education in peace. This is true of parents; they only want to go to work and see a reunion with their families in the evening safe and sound.

This is equally true of the clergy, who want to stand before their flock and preach peace and not hold masses burying victims of police shootings.

For the nonsalaried hustler in Kisumu, the sight of burning tyres on the road is a pre-confirmation that they will not make a shilling that day and sleeping hungry will not be an option.

Unto those who think hate-speech is just another minute crime, we can forget and move on, the Swahili will remind you for free that haba na haba hujaza kibaba (little by little, it gets it done).

If we cannot deal with this issue with the seriousness it deserves, we should not be surprised when we match to the path of Rwandan genocide.

Hate mongers mean no good to this country and must be dealt with in accordance with the law irrespective of their position in society.

It is actually a shame that President Uhuru Kenyatta has Kuria as his MP. He has failed the integrity test and has no authority to even hold public office.

Uhuru must show utmost leadership and tame his party members such as Kuria and the same applies to Raila Odinga.

