LSK warns against MPs' growing urge for constitutional amendments after protests

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has advised Kenyans to expect a barrage of legislative amendments to some laws in reaction to the events that happened on June 25 when protesters rejecting the Finance Bill 2024 made history when they breached parliament grounds, forcing legislators to flee for their lives.

LSK Vice President Mwaura Kabata said these include the proposed Assembly and Demonstration Bill, 2024 that seeks to tighten the laws around the right to assembly, with offenders risking a one-year imprisonment or a Sh100,000 fine.

"We do realise that the knee-jerk reaction from parliament, being a victim of the successful protests that found their way to parliament challenging the Finance Bill 2024, is that a lot of the amendments contained in that particular proposal will not meet the legal threshold. We are just putting it to you to be vigilant and extremely involved," Kabata told Kenyans.

He said while the laws are completely capable of addressing Kenyans' concerns, there is a continuous appetite by the political elite to amend sections of the Constitution, which should be a matter of concern to all.

"These incessant intentions to amend the constitution just because something happened is something that we are appealing to Kenyans to be vigilant about, especially at a time like this when the duty to protect the Constitution becomes a duty for all to ensure that our laws are not desecrated to accommodate the interests of a few," he implored.

June 25, 2024 ranks as the most significant of the many anti-government protests held nationwide between June and August, as it was the first time protesters in Kenya accessed parliament, an area considered a critical infrastructure, in response to the passing of the Finance Bill 2024.

On that fateful night, then Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale published a gazette notice declaring the deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces to support the National Police Service to handle the security emergency caused by violent protests in various parts of the country that resulted in the destruction and broaching of critical infrastructure.

The following day, Members of Parliament hurriedly approved the deployment of the military, a move that has since been criticised by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) as a strategic manoeuvre intended to mask police abuses.

In its latest report, the authority revealed that the military's presence was not just unlawful but a deliberate effort to suppress dissent and create a militarised state.

Both LSK and IPOA agree that there was no proper notification to the National Assembly, as required by law, and no explanation was provided for the circumstances that necessitated the deployment of the army.

"There had been no notification to the National Assembly as required by the law, and, as such, there was no explanation of the circumstances warranting the deployment of the KDF," the report states.

LSK has since challenged the decision by the government to deploy the military to the protests and will soon be seeking reparation for all victims of the anti-Finance Bill protests.

"When you look at the constitution of Kenya, it mentions the word emergency about 23 or 24 times but mentions the state of emergency four times, so there should not be a hullabaloo about an emergency and a state of emergency. When a mother is going into labour, that's an emergency. An emergency is when you want to go for a call of nature, an emergency is when you have hunger pangs. I mean, we should not conflate legal issues to suit the political comfort of a few selected political class persons," the LSK vice president said.

On Wednesday, six human rights organisations also urged the government to recall the gazette notice that allowed for the military's deployment in the protests.

"We revisit the government's failure to stipulate guidelines and timelines for the deployment of the Kenya Army to protect critical infrastructure in the aftermath of the June 25 protests. This failure violates international human rights standards and is subject to a court order by the High Court. We call upon the government to gazette the revocation of the deployment of the Kenya Army," they said.