It is a sad day for democracy when the House is used to force through bad laws

That President Uhuru Kenyatta hurriedly signed the controversial Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 into law despite the way it was unprocedurally bulldozed through Parliament confirms Kenyans’ fears that this is a precursor to some malicious political agenda. 

It gives chilling answers to disturbing questions as to why House Speaker Justin Muturi questionably allowed the passage of the divisive laws in total violation of the standing orders and all known traditions and practices of civilised parliaments. 

The reason there has been so much opposition to these new laws is that there are clauses that are causing concern about the freedoms that Kenyans fought so hard to restore after past autocratic regimes took them away.

One such clause is the one that says: “Any person who adopts or promotes an extreme belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change shall be liable, if found guilty by a court of law, to a jail term not exceeding 30 years.”

Would Kenyans be wrong to take this as evidence that there is a scheme to put in place a legal instrument for political terrorism against opponents?

As a few Kenyans celebrate Thursday’s acrimonious passing of the Security Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 and its subsequent enactment into law and in view of the latest Ipsos Synovate report of a pitiable 1 per cent national approval of the punitive laws, all patriots should move with speed to rescue the future of this country. 

Parliament is supposed to be the fulcrum of our democracy and governance. It is the most crucial arm of government because it anchors democracy and leadership. Its sanctity and traditions must never be abused.

DISGRACEFUL

The chaos were disgraceful, no doubt. The culprits of the jeering, heckling, and physical fights stand condemned. The only excuse is that it would be a terrible betrayal of the voters for MPs to either blindly support or fail to actively oppose enactment of bad laws.

However, the biggest culprits, the authors and executors of this obnoxious law that has sent the country into a panic, should be held to account. Because of the nature of these laws, their authors can only be termed as enemies of the people of Kenya.

These amendments undermine freedom of the press, give the National Intelligence Service monstrous powers, and create a dictatorship probably worse than the one Kenyans suffered under in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. 

This is legislative fraud. The Constitution and Parliament’s standing orders are clear about where and how our laws should be made: in Parliament, by parliamentarians, and according to the standing orders. Bulldozing Parliament into passing divisive laws is legislative mob justice. Key stakeholders were by-passed, hence the many initial glaring unconstitutional provisions of the Bill.

The way the laws were forced through is a first in Kenya’s parliamentary history. They were in complete violation of the House standing orders. If the process is invalid, then the product should be null and void. Unless rules do not matter. 

BATTLEFIELD

Last Thursday, the debating chamber of our National Assembly was turned into a battlefield. Legislators physically assaulted colleagues. Senators Johnson Muthama, Moses Wetangula, James Orengo, and Bonni Khalwale and MP Simba Arati suffered this indignity.

Kenyans should ask why Speaker Justin Muturi never invoked Standing Order No. 112(1) that requires him to adjourn or suspend proceedings in the face of grave disorder in the assembly. Why did he overlook standing orders number 107, 108, and 109 that empower him to discipline members by ordering them out or naming them in the face of gross disorder in the House? 

House rules prohibit Parliament business being transacted in a disorderly manner. That this was allowed in the passing of the contentious laws invalidates all that was transacted. This includes the adoption of the Bill when the entire House was on its feet as it denied those opposed to it their constitutional right and recourse to a division or direct voting.

There is no doubt that the contentious laws were extracted from a National Assembly that was operating under duress.

The writer is MP for Kitutu-Masaba and ODM's national treasurer.