Association
On 10th May 2024, President William Ruto announced the commencement of the Public Benefits Organisations (PBO) Act of 2013. The law, which was passed in 2013 after being assented to by the then President Mwai Kibaki during his last days in office, however remained frozen for 11 years as previous governments declined to authorise its commencement. President Ruto’s announcement was made during the UN global civil societies conference in Nairobi, following unrelenting campaigning by civil society, both locally and through international platforms. The PBO Act repeals the controversial NGO Act of 1991 which provided whimsical discretion to authorities to interfere with organisations’ operations including arbitrary deregistrations, as was documented by the Monitor in 2017 in incidents preceding the 2017 general elections. The new legal framework now provides a comprehensive, consolidated, predictable and transparent framework for the registration and regulation of civil society, immune from political interference and arbitrariness.
On 8th April 2024, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) through a statement denounced repeated threats and attacks against senator Okiya Omtata, a prominent human rights activist. This came after his countryside home was invaded by unknown people on the night of 3rd April 2024, injuring his wife after they failed to find him. Omtata, who has actively denounced and contested the government’s controversial housing levy in court (previously documented), had also recently been subjected to what appeared to be death threats from President William Ruto against those opposing the housing levy in December 2023. Ruto suggested using the ceremonial sword that was handed to him during his swearing-in to confront those opposing the levy. Omtata was turned away by the police at Nyanchwa police station when he tried to report the threat. Similarly, on 22nd March 2024, Omtata was accosted by assailants while leaving the court in his vehicle. He escaped unharmed although his vehicle sustained some damage.
Expression
On 4th April 2024, a Cabinet Secretary labeled John Allan, investigative journalist and co-founder of Africa Uncensored investigative channel, as a crook. This accusation followed Allan's airing of a two-part documentary exposing a web of mining, packaging, and widespread distribution of ordinary sand disguised as government subsidised fertilizer, sold to farmers at inflated prices.
In positive developments, on 18th March 2024, the High Court declared the crime of 'subversive activities' to be unconstitutional. The court found that the provisions of the crime, which are found in section 77 of the penal code were over-broad and vague, and limit the right to freedom of expression. The court also found there was a lack of clarity as to the purpose and intent and that the limitation in section 77 was not "provided by law". The judgment was in relation to a case filed by human rights organisations challenging the validity of the provision after it was used to prosecute a citizen, Joshua Ayika, because of a tweet that he posted on his Twitter page. In the tweet, Ayika alluded to the army taking over government. He was arrested on 21st July 2023 and charged with ‘subversive activities’.
The court also found the section to be vague and over-broad in its definition of “subversion”, especially about the meaning of "prejudicial to public order, security of Kenya and administration of justice", "in defiance of or disobedience to the law and lawful authority; unlawful society" or "hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against any public officer or any class of public officer".