Uhuru Kenyatta signs terror laws, Raila Odinga vows to fight them

A fresh battle over new tough anti-terror measures appeared imminent on Friday after President Uhuru Kenyatta signed them into law.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga immediately declared he will go to courts to fight them.

President Kenyatta addressed the nation from State House, Nairobi and said those opposing the laws had not carefully read them.

Speaking during a news conference in Nairobi later, Cord leader Raila Odinga said the opposition would fight the laws in the courts.

He also appeared to suggest some form of mass action when he gave Cord’s second option as an “appeal to the court of public opinion”.

After assenting to the laws, the President said they would help boost his government’s fight against terror and criminal activities such as poaching and cross-border trafficking.

The Head of State went against calls by the Cord coalition and the civil society to reject the Bill following an acrimonious session in the National Assembly that saw the proposed laws passed amidst protests on Thursday evening.

Speaker Justin Muturi oversaw the chaotic session.

The President said Cord MPs in the National Assembly and Senators had exhibited a “deplorable conduct.”

He described Thursday’s session as an “unfortunate incident” that denied Kenyans a chance to follow the House proceedings.

He praised Jubilee members for passing the law despite the chaos and mayhem.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank our National Assembly for having the presence of mind on Friday to pass the Bill despite the deplorable conduct of a few individuals who seem oblivious to the threat upon our country at this point in time,” he said when he addressed the nation on Friday.

CONCERNS ADDRESSED

The President said “all concerns” raised by dissatisfied parties had been addressed by the parliamentary committees that fine-tuned the Bill before its passage.

He also said he was satisfied the law did not infringe on the Bill of Rights as claimed by its opponents.

Last year, various security organs were heavily blamed for failing to coordinate their response to the Westgate terror attack enabling the attackers to regroup and elongate the siege.

The new law sets a new National Counter Terrorism Centre that will coordinate response to terror attacks across the country.

“This law gives our security actors a firm institutional framework for coherent cooperation and synergy within the National Counter Terrorism Centre. This synergy is cascaded from the highest to the lowest level through the national government security structures,” said the President.

Speaking in Siaya County earlier, Mr Odinga had asked the President to dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections because of the chaos witnessed during passage of the laws on Thursday.

Cord leaders also said they will stage a countrywide campaign against the law.

“The President’s assent is just the beginning of another phase of the struggle to liberate Kenya,” said Kalonzo Musyoka during a press conference.

SHAMBOLIC SESSION

Mr Musyoka accused Speaker Justin Muturi of presiding over a shambolic session of the House.

Cord claimed the Jubilee administration arm-twisted the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission into harassing and intimidating opposition MPs.

The leaders rubbished claims by the ethics team of taking action against MPs who caused disruption in Parliament saying they were protected by parliamentary privileges.

The leaders said President Kenyatta was working hard to return the country to the dark days where impunity was the order of the day.

“The real target of this ‘‘law’’ is not terrorism. Its aim is to reintroduce the police state and political hegemony for the enjoyment of the remnants of Kanu who are keen to reintroduce what Kenyans fought so hard to defeat,” Mr Musyoka said.

From today, publishing of photos of terrorism victims without permission from police will cost a publisher Sh5 million or three years in jail or both. The same fate will befall those who publish or broadcast “insulting, threatening or inciting” images of injured or dead persons.

Officers from the National Intelligence Service can now arrest suspected terrorists but they have to do it with a High Court order and hand over suspects to police immediately. Security officers have also been permitted to intercept communication by people intending to commit terrorism although the new Cabinet Secretary for Interior Joseph Nkaissery has been tasked with the daunting task of formulating procedures of doing that without infringing on people’s privacy.

Public stripping has been outlawed and offenders may be jailed for a maximum of 10 years. The freedom of the media to broadcast photos has been limited through the contentious amendment to the Penal Code.

Further, the code has been amended to prevent interference of police operations and on conviction, the fine will “not exceed Sh5 million or three years, or both.”

Reported by Jeremiah Kiplang’at, Nelcon Odhiambo and Samwel Born Maina