The former Member of Parliament for Laikipia North Mathew Lempurkel has been charged with hate speech.

He was charged in Milimani Law Court before Senior Principal Magistrate Sinkiyan Tobiko on Thursday.

Police arrested Lempurkel on Wednesday at his Rongai home in Kajiado County following the unrest in Laikipia.

The charge sheet says the former Legislator referred to a people as jigger infested.

According to the same charge sheet, Lempurkel said all conservancies and ranches within the region belong to the Maa community. 

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“Those people whose feet are infested with jiggers” adding that “all conservancies and ranches within Laikipia belong to the Maa community and that the investors may keep the land but the grass on those lands belong to the Maa community,” read the court document.

The former legislator’s remarks on the Maa TV show are believed to fuel the ongoing unrest in Ol Moran. 

Lempurkel was released on a Sh150,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty. The prosecution, however, did not contest the decision to release him on bail.