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Submissions done one 11th November 2019 at the National Assembly
Executive Summary
The Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (National Assembly Bill Number 61) should be withdrawn. It is unconstitutional and will have devastating ramifications on the Sovereignty of the People, the Supremacy of the Constitution and democracy.
Recommendation:
The Bill should be withdrawn entirely. Its premise is unconstitutional because regulating bloggers equals regulating the news, people’s views, and free speech and invading their privacy. It goes against the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 under article 31 which guarantees the right to privacy, article 32 which guarantees the freedom of belief and opinion, article 33 that guarantees the freedom of expression, article 34 that gives the people freedom of the media and lastly article 35 that guarantees us the access to information. Furthermore, the regulation of bloggers and social media, in general, creates a chilling effect on free speech and freedom of the media in the country. These freedoms go to the root of our democracy. Once the government is allowed to chip away at these freedoms, we will quickly cease to become a democratic state.