DAVID OCHAMI: Proposed KICA amendment - A draconian assault on Kenyan freedoms

If adopted by the National Assembly and signed into law, the proposed amendment to the Kenya Information and Communication Act will represent the most draconian and intrusive legislation yet enacted against fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the 2010 Constitution. These include freedom of speech, expression, dissemination through electronic means and the right to privacy.

While the constitution acknowledges that rights such as privacy, expression, speech and media freedom are not unlimited, Article 24 of the supreme law unequivocally states that any limitation of fundamental rights must be reasonable and justifiable in a democracy. The constitution safeguards citizens from unwarranted invasion into their privacy and explicitly decrees that the state lacks the authority to limit rights in a wholesale manner that infringes upon the rights of others.