AG Dorcas Oduor moves to lift court orders blocking cybercrimes law
According to the State, the appeal before the higher court involves the same issues raised in the new petition, making it improper for the High Court to issue parallel orders.
The Attorney General (AG) has moved to the High Court seeking to lift orders that temporarily suspended the enforcement of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The State, through V.A. Nyamodi and Company Advocates, has filed an urgent application asking the court to set aside the conservatory orders issued on October 22, 2025, halting the implementation and operationalisation of the amended law.
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The orders were issued following a petition filed by Reuben Kigame Lichete and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), who challenged the constitutionality of the new amendments, arguing that they threatened freedom of expression and digital rights protected under the Constitution.
In the application certified urgent by Paul Nyamodi, the AG argues that the High Court erred by issuing the conservatory orders while a similar matter is still pending before the Court of Appeal.
The State points to Civil Appeal No. 197 of 2010 - Bloggers Association of Kenya v Attorney General and four others, in which the constitutionality of Section 27 of the principal Cybercrimes Act is already under judicial consideration.
According to the State, the appeal before the higher court involves the same issues raised in the new petition, making it improper for the High Court to issue parallel orders.
The Attorney General's office maintains that the High Court should await the outcome of the appellate case before taking any step in the matter, including granting conservatory relief.
"It is in the interest of justice that the application be allowed as prayed and the ex parte conservatory orders issued on October 22, 2025, be set aside ex debito justitiae," reads part of the notice of motion.
The application is supported by an affidavit sworn by Dr James Kimuyu, the Director of the Secretariat at the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly.
Dr Kimuyu states that Parliament passed the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was assented to by the President on October 15, 2025, to strengthen cyber laws and address online offences, including those leading to mental harm.
He explains that the new law amended Section 27 of the 2018 Act by inserting the words "or is likely to cause that other person to commit suicide" - making it an offence to use online platforms in a manner that could cause another person to take their own life.
The petitioners argue, however, that the amendment is vague and open to abuse, and could be used to suppress online dissent and media freedom.
The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), Media Council of Kenya (MCK), Law Society of Kenya (LSK), and the Data Protection Commissioner have been listed as interested parties in the case.
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