MP Geoffrey Ruku Proposes Bill to Regulate Demos

Mbeere North MP Geoffrey Ruku has introduced a bill to control how picketing and demonstrations are conducted in an effort to quell anti-government activities by the opposition.

Ruku demands that organizers be held accountable for any harm or loss of lives or property and that anyone who participates in illegal protests face a year in prison.

The MP defended the proposed Bill by claiming that it does not restrict Kenyans’ ability to picket or demonstrate and that it is instead designed to make sure that the conveners hold peaceful demonstrations.

The Mbeere North legislator says that protests have resulted in significant property damage, looting, and even fatalities.

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“We have to take care of public safety, public order and protection of rights and freedoms of other persons. This must be regulated, we must ensure that demos are done in a manner that do not infringe on the rights of others,” Ruku argues.

The Bill aims to strengthen Article 37 of the Constitution, which grants everyone the freedom to gather, protest, and picket.

Some of the proposals call for holding the organizer of the protest responsible for any harm caused by the participants. They also state that anyone who disobeys the law by organizing and attending an illegal protest will be sentenced to a year in prison.

“The Bill recognises the right to picket, but in a democratic society we must be disciplined, we must run a nation that is disciplined, we must put measures; what extent police go, the obligations of the organisers of the demos…you can’t destroy property, we can’t have a loss of life in the course of demos, let us have peaceful demos and for this to be achieved we must have regulations,” he says.

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The Bill also gives police more authority to deal with demonstrators, giving officers with the level of inspector or above the authority to stop people from having assemblies when it is obvious that there is an immediate risk of a potential violation of the peace or of public order.

They will also make sure there is no obstruction of the flow of vehicles or pedestrian traffic, prevent demonstrators from diverting from the designated route in the notice, and maintain a reasonable separation between rival groups if they meet.

Others say that regardless of whether they take part in the demonstrations, they protect people and property in the spirit of Utumishi Kwa Wote.

In accordance with the Bill, organizers must also pick marshals who will be in charge of ensuring that the procession or assembly abides with Article 37 of the Constitution, which mandates that it be peaceful.

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It forbids, among other things, the carrying of banners, placards, or even speech that is perceived to encourage hatred or disparage others, masking faces to prevent identity theft, the possession of weapons by protestors, and the wearing of clothes that resemble that of police officers.

The Bill also states that public safety, the protection of the rights and liberties of protestors who choose not to participate, and other requirements will need to be adhered to by the organizers.