Barely days after the Azimio la Umoja Coalition held a rally in Kamukunji an MP has drafted a Bill to regulate demonstrations in the country.
The Assembly, Demonstration, Picketing and Petition Bill, 2023 championed by Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku, seeks to enrich Article 37 of the Constitution.
The Bill proposes that protestors participating in an outlawed protest or assembly should face one-year imprisonment.
Conveners of the protests, under the Bill, will further be subjected to costs that may arise from damages related to the protests.
They will also be required to appoint marshals to control participants of the protests and ensure that the assembly or protest proceeds peacefully.
“We’ve seen violent demonstrations in the past, people have lost their lives people have lost their property and nobody has ever been held accountable,” Ruku said.
The Bill which is at the committee stage, empowers police officers above the rank of Inspector to prevent the holding of an assembly or demonstration if imminent danger or breach of peace to the public is proven.
“You can’t destroy property in the name of demonstrations. We can’t have a loss of lives in the name of demonstrations. For peaceful demonstrations to be achieved there must be regulation,” he added.
If it passes, protestors will not be allowed to possess any weapon and wear any clothing that may resemble that of police officers while participating in the protests.
It further outlaws the carrying of banners, placards or even speech that may be found to incite hatred.
While defending the bill, the lawmaker questioned previous protests which have led to the disruption of public transport and the closure of schools and businesses.
“Demonstrations should not make Kenyans not go about their normal businesses. Schools should not close because of demos and public transport should not be disrupted,” Ruku said.
“The Bill is to ensure your right to demonstrate is respected and the right of others not participating in the demos.”
In March, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki also proposed a change in Article 37 of the Constitution.
At the time the CS said the government was going to introduce 10 changes to the law in a bid to control protests.
“The government shall introduce in Parliament subsidiary legislation in the form of Regulations pursuant to the Public Order Act and the Statutory Instruments Act to provide for the legal circumscription of assemblies, demonstrations, pickets and petitions,” he said.
The proposed clauses were to include notification of procedures, duties of security agencies to protect the rights of those participating in the demonstrations, demarcation of assembly zones and duty of public agencies and institutions to set aside a zone for persons who wished to present petitions to public authorities.
