Uhuru urges review of controversial Bill gagging the media

President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged a review of the controversial Bill in which MPs sought to muzzle the media.

Speaking during the country’s 52^nd Mashujaa Day celebrations, President Kenyatta said that the freedom of expression is enshrined in Kenya’s Constitution and must be respected.

He urged lawmakers to remove the offensive clauses that go against the Constitution, saying the freedom of speech must be protected.

The presidents’s utterances come just four days after Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i promised that the contentious clauses in the Powers and Privileges Bill would be removed during deliberations on the review of the Bill.

Matiang’i, through the leader of the Majority Aden Duale and the chair of the communication departmental committee Jamleck Kamau, said the government would push for the legislation to be altered to uphold media freedom.

He also called for sobriety among stakeholders during the deliberations.

Last week, the National Assembly approved a contentious clause in the Powers and Privileges Amendment Bill 2014 that prohibits reporters from airing stories that are deemed defamatory to the House.

The House retained Clause 34 of the contentious Bill despite assurance by its mover Eldas MP Adan Keynan that it will be deleted.

The clause proposes a Sh500,000 fine for anyone who publishes an article deemed defamatory to Parliament.

The clause states: “A person commits an offence if the person publishes any false or scandalous libel on Parliament, its committees or its proceedings or speaks words defamatory of Parliament, its committees or its proceedings”.

Article 35 states: “A person convicted of an offence under this Act for which no penalty provided shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or to both”.

The Bill further gives the Clerk powers to make a request to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to take action actions the said person with the DPP being required to submit a report to the clerk within 30 days of receipt of the request for action to be taken on the matter.

The Bill is at the Committee Stage of the law making process.