'Nobody is safe,' MPs back Bill to limit protests near Parliament

Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris, the Bill's sponsor, appeared before the Administration and Internal Security Committee on Tuesday, stating that her proposal seeks to create guidelines on where demonstrations should be held.

She said that protests in the country need to adopt an orderly conduct to avoid violence and death of protesters as seen in previous national demonstrations.

The legislator also wants all public meetings or public processions to be held outside a radius of 100 metres from the precincts of Parliament, protected areas under the Protected Areas Act and any courtrooms.

"The whole idea of the Bill is to protect the pillars of our democracy. You have to have a certain area where you can’t reach as a demonstrator and you have to respect that," she said.

MPs present in the sitting lauded Passaris over the proposal, which they said is timely amid the rise in national protests that have led to loss of many lives.

The committee chair Gabriel Tong’oyo said, "the country is at a crossroads, we must take lessons, As much as citizens have a right to picket, it must be done in an orderly manner."

Mandera East MP Hussein Weytan welcomed the proposal saying there is need to manage protests in the nation to instill peaceful processions.

"Nobody is safe. Anytime people can come to Parliament, go to State House go to police stations," he said.

His Homa Bay counterpart Peter Kaluma added that the Bill is objective but will need a few iterations to address critical specifics that guide protests in Kenya.

"It is very objective, it is very timely...this thing should be redrafted to specify its intentions specifically to limit the rights in a very conclusive way," he said.

"That law should also define what matters we should assemble, do you need to petition. For instance, what we were dealing with last Wednesday, they wanted compensation for the children we lost last year during the demonstrations. Is that a matter of petition in court or a matter of demonstration?"

Teso North MP Oku Kaunya said there should be a provision where the authority leading the protests can go past the 100m radius to take the petition being presented.

Passaris further argued that her Bill is not similar to the Assembly and Demonstration Bill 2024 sponsored by now Public Service Cabinet Secretary Geoffrey Ruku.

Ruku's proposals were met with harsh contention from police, human rights organizations, civil society groups, and police watchdog bodies calling for its immediate withdrawal.

Passaris argued that Ruku’s Bill focused on the individual conduct during demonstrations, while hers speaks to "clean up the environment" of the demonstrations.