MPs defend laws President signed on day Raila died

Some Members of Parliament have now defended the move by President William Ruto to sign eight controversial bills into law on October 15, the day that the former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, died.

Nandi Hills MP, Bernard Kitur, on Wednesday, insisted that the President’s action was guided by constitutional provisions, specifically Article 115 of the Constitution, which requires the President to either assent to a Bill or refer it back to Parliament within 14 days of its presentation.

According to Kitur, failure to act within this period would automatically result in the Bill being deemed assented to by operation of law.

“There is a misconception in the country. It is important to emphasise that the President’s signing of the Bill on that particular day was not a political manoeuvre or an act of insensitivity during a period of national mourning. Rather, it was a constitutional obligation that had to be fulfilled within the legally prescribed timeframe,” he said in a press conference held in Parliament.

Others who had signed the statement in support of his sentiments were Mark Nyamita (Uriri) and Josses Lelmengit (Emgwen).

“The timing was purely coincidental as the 14-day deadline happened to fall on the same day the nation lost one of its most distinguished leaders and patriots, Raila. Presentation of the bills for assent was pre-arranged and scheduled to ensure compliance with strict constitutional, statutory and procedural timelines, international commitments and conditions, hence the assent of the Bills to further ensure continuity of the business of Government,” he added.

In an attempt to demystify the Bills assented to, Kitur explained that the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill 2024 is a private member’s bill sponsored his Wajir East counterpart, Aden Daud Mohamed, which amended the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act to enhance existing provisions, which prohibit the use of electronic mediums to promote unlawful activities, child pornography, terrorism, religious extremism and cultism and cyber harassment.

“This is to introduce new definitions of the terms computer misuse and cybercrime, assets, identity theft and virtual account to enhance the Government’s ability to trace, freeze and recover the proceeds of cybercrime,” he insisted.

Similarly, he said it seeks to empower the National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee to issue a directive to render a website or application inaccessible, where it is proved that the website or application promotes unlawful activities, child pornography, terrorism or religious extremism and cultism.

Kitur also said it will empower the court to order the removal of any unlawful or extremist content from a platform or device, in the event of successful prosecution of an offender, to enhance the offence of cyber harassment to cover instances where a perpetrator knows that their conduct is likely to cause a person to commit suicide and expand the existing offense of phishing to include identity theft committed through email or phone calls, especially in light of the prevalence of ‘swimswap’ fraud.

“The new amendment is in line with the best practices in regulating access to harmful online content in the United Kingdom and the US in particular, about child pornography and extremism and will also facilitate tracing, freezing and recovery of the proceeds of cybercrime in the country,” he said.

On the Privatisation Bill, 2025, National Assembly Bill No. 36 of 2025, the MPs explained that the Bill sponsored by the Leader of Majority, Kimani Ichung’wah, streamlines the regulatory and institutional framework for the implementation of privatisation, providing statutory safeguards to achieve the objects of the laws and aligning it to the fast-changing global environment.

“The new amendment law repeals and re-enacts the regulatory framework for privatisation of public entities with a view to improving their efficiency, profitability of public entities. The new amendment is also informed by a High Court judgment which declared the existing legal framework (Privatisation Act, 2023) unconstitutional for insufficient public participation,” he explained.

He said the re-enactment of the Act, through the new amendment law, was to comply with the dictates of public participation in addition to putting in place a robust legal framework that ensures privatisation processes uphold good governance.

On the Land (Amendment) Bill, National Assembly No 40 of 2022, he said it is a private members' bill, which amended the Land Act to require the Chief Land Registrar to register all public land allocated to a public body by the National Land Commission and any land set aside by a developer for public purposes.

It also requires registration of public land and land earmarked for public amenities to be published in the Kenya Gazette to ensure that all public land set aside for public amenities, such as schools, is registered.

“The new amendment law will prevent and discourage the grabbing of land set aside for public purposes by private individuals,” he said.

On the other hand, he said the National Land Commission (Amendment) Bill, National Assembly Bill No. 43 of 2023, will facilitate the settlement of historical injustices and issues relating to public land previously earmarked for the settlement of landless persons by the Government.

The Wildlife Conservation and Management (Amendment) (National Assembly Bill No 3 of 2023), he said, will see Kenyan communities living adjacent to marine areas compensated for injuries suffered from attacks by sharks, stonefish, whales and stingrays.

On the other hand, he explained that the National Police Service Commission (Amendment) Bill, National Assembly Bill No 23 of 2024, he said, will promote mental wellness and wellbeing of police officers across the country.

Similarly, he said enactment of the Privatisation Bill 2025 and the Virtual Assets Service Providers Bill 2025 formed part of the conditions attached to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme that the Government is currently negotiating, with the recent set of meetings concluded on October 9.