Activists petition court to allow protesters State House access » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 29 – An alliance of Civil Society Organisations operating under the umbrella Operation Linda Jamii has filed a petition in the High Court challenging Protected Areas Act which restricts unauthorised access to State House and key installations.

In their petition, the CSO claims to have notified the Inspector General of Police of their planned nationwide march scheduled for Tuesday which will see protesters present their petitions to the State House Nairobi.

“Article 37 of the Constitution guarantees every person the right, peaceably and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate, to picket, and to present petitions to public authorities. No public authority and premises from where they operate is immune to this fundamental right; that includes the Presidency, the most senior state officer in the land and the premises from which he operates, State House, Nairobi, predominantly and other State Lodges,” stated Linda Jamii.

Similar processions will be made up of their members to deliver the petitions to State lodges in Mombasa, Kisumu, Sagana, Nyeri, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kakamega and Kitale.

“Vaguely designating the entire “area(s)”, “places” and “premises” known as State House, Nairobi and the other aforementioned State Houses and State Lodges as protected, without detailed legal delimitations, grants the prescribed officer unfettered discretion to determine the boundaries of the protected area to the detriment of the rights of citizens to assemble, demonstrate, picket and petition outside the State Houses and State Lodges,” the petition highlighted.

The Protected Areas Act proscribes that any persons found within the premises without authorisation “shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to a fine not exceeding five thousand shillings, or to both such imprisonment and fine.

About The Author