Kenya President Signs Controversial Security Bill İnto Law

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday signed into law a controversial security bill that included amendments seen by the opposition as "draconian".



The bill was passed by Kenyan parliament on Thursday in an acrimonious session that saw MPs trade blows.



"As a result of the unfortunate incident yesterday, many Kenyans were denied the opportunity to follow the parliamentary proceedings," Kenyatta said in a televised speech.



"I therefore urge all Kenyans to take time to read and understand this law that I have just signed. I am confident that you will find nothing in this law that goes against the bill of rights or any provisions of the constitution," he said.



The Kenyan President said that the new law will enable the government to protect the lives and property of citizens.



"This law gives our security actors a firm institutional framework for coherent cooperation and synergy within the national counter-terrorism center," he said.



"This synergy is cascaded from the highest to the lowest level through the national government security structures," Kenyatta added.



He went on to say that the new law will deal with emerging crimes that reinforce terrorism, "including the phenomena of foreign fighter, radicalization and transnational and cross-border crimes such as poaching and trafficking."



"The law allows the use of technology in processing and advancing the ability for the successful prosecution of suspects," he said. "I call upon all Kenyans to bring their full weight to bear in giving effect to this law."



The Kenyan opposition described the bill – which will facilitate government wiretapping and allow terror suspects to be detained for up to a year without charge – as "draconian."



Media personalities and human rights groups have also criticized the amendments, which, among other things, would force them to obtain police authorization before publishing photographs of the victims of terrorism.



Kenya has recently been hit by a spate of attacks blamed on Somali Al-Shabaab militant group, which demands that Nairobi withdraw its troops – first deployed in 2011 – from neighboring Somalia.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Nayrobi