‘Kila Mtu Atashindia Kwao’ Statement On Safaricom Advert Termed Discriminatory By Complainant

The last statement on Safaricom’s ‘Shangwe Mtaani’ advert would be the small piece that would make the icing of the cake of a perfect advert to engage subscribers to participate in the national competition but it now seems that last statement might be the cause of withdrawal of the advert if the complainant in this case wins.

A complainant has laid a case with the NCIC to prevent Safaricom from running the Shangwe Mitaani advert that aims to award different winners from different counties which in this case are different tribes as the advert stated.

Probably this was an advert to ensure that all subscribers in different counties get to participate more as they now have a higher chance of winning the 72 million shillings that is to be shared but the complainant sees it differently.

Peter Gichira lodged the complaint asking the commission to facilitate the withdrawal of the adverts “in the spirit of peace, reconciliation and healing in the country”

NCIC Secretary Hassan Mohamed stated of the complaint that “the ongoing adverts carried on television and radio discriminate against minorities in a region by implying only a given people belong to certain regions of the country.”

He added; “The utterance ‘kila mtu atashindia kwao (everybody will win in their region)’ implies certain regions are for certain people and this serves to exclude other Kenyans living in this regions from belonging.”

The NCIC has given Safaricom 14 days to respond to allegations that its ‘Shangwe Mashinani’ lottery advertisement discriminates against minorities, reports the Star.