Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has said the government will introduce subsidiary legislation in Parliament to provide guidance on how Kenyans protest.
Kindiki announced the government's move via a statement he issued on Sunday as a section of Kenyans were preparing to participate in the Raila Odinga-led nationwide anti-government demonstrations.
"Shortly, the Government shall introduce in Parliament subsidiary legislation in the form of Regulations pursuant to the Public Order Act and the Statutory Instruments Act to provide for the legal circumscription of assemblies, demonstrations, pickets and petitions," the statement read.
Among the issues the law will address include notification procedures, duty of security agencies during the mass action, identification of assembly, demonstration and picketing zones, and consent requirements from persons whose activities will be affected by the demos.
It will also specify the number of persons involved in any given occasion, responsibility for clean-up costs and responsibility for damages inflicted during the protests.
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Kindiki noted that presently the government cannot allow people to walk on the streets wielding stones and other weapons while making political proclamations and disrupting the daily activities of others.
"Presently, it is not feasible for security organs to allow masses of people to roam streets and neighborhoods of their choice carrying stones and other offensive weapons while chanting political slogans and disrupting the daily activities of others," Kindiki said.
"Accordingly, law enforcement agencies shall not tolerate the reported plans to repeat the violent, chaotic and economically disruptive protests that took place in Nairobi and Kisumu on 20th March 2023 whatsoever."
Read the entire statement Kindiki issued below:
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