Silenced - Kenya
21/09/2003
Kenya
Kenya has one of the largest Internet sectors in Africa.
Full Internet services were established in 1995 and the Communications Commission
of Kenya (CCK) was recently formed to regulate the sector. It currently has
over 30 licensed ISPs. The national operator, Telkom Kenya, has a monopoly for
telecommunications services but plans for privatisation are in progress.
President Mwai Kibaki and the National Rainbow Coalition
(NARC) recently won a landslide victory in the December 2002 elections with
promises to fight corruption and to tackle Kenya’s economic decline. Kibaki
promised to end the autocratic rule of his predecessor, Daniel arap Moi, who
had ruled Kenya for 24 years.
Before the NARC came into power at the end of 2002, there
had been numerous cases of harassment, intimidation and imprisonment of media
workers by state agents. This, together with legal restraints and commercial interference
resulted in self-censorship among Kenyan media workers.
In May 2002, the Moi government passed a repressive media
bill to effectively allow government to control the media ahead of the general
elections that December. The Kenyan Media sector reeled with shock as the
Statutes Law Bill (Miscellaneous Amendment Bill) was rushed through Parliament,
forcing publishers to submit copies of their publication to the registrar
before distribution and driving the cost of newspaper publishing bonds from 10,000
shillings (150 euros) to one million (15,000 euros).
Media observers were convinced that the Moi government used
several indirect strategies, such as restricting bandwidth offered to ISPs
through the state-owned Internet backbone, to censor Internet users in Kenya.
In a 2001 report by Okoth F. Mudhai, media practitioner Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki
was quoted as saying that the government sometimes demanded that ISPs produce
their subscriber lists. In one case, she recalled an ISP that was forced to
shut down a list created to discuss the 1997 general election out of fear about
what was being expressed.
According to Internet activists, raids on telecommunications
operators and destruction of their equipment were not unusual – particularly to
combat illegal use of VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) in the country. The monopoly provider,
Telkom Kenya, would often block the Internet in its attempts to eliminate the
use of Voice Over IP (VOIP) which would compete with its telephone services. In
December 2000 the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) ordered the closure
of the month-old Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) ostensibly for infringing
Telkom Kenya’s monopoly rights.
The new government was voted into power on a platform of change
and transparency. A few months into their governance, they have done away with
restrictive licensing for broadcasting, VSAT operators are being licensed, the
regulator is being reformed and a new telecommunications and ICT policy
framework is being developed. In the recent June 2003 budget, duties on
computers and accessories were removed and VAT was decreased across the board
in a move to lower the costs of hardware for Kenyan consumers. However, in
August 2003, Information and Tourism Minister Raphael Tuju announced the
creation of a censorship board.
Terror attacks in Kenya in 1998
and 2002, compounded by the global anti-terrorism campaign has, however,
initiated a new set of events that could prove a setback to the country’s
transition. Kenya’s new anti-terrorism bill recently prompted an outcry by
Muslims, the main opposition party, human rights lawyers and activists who say
that the Suppression of Terrorism Bill, published in the Government Gazette on
3 July 2003, is ‘repressive’ and ‘draconian’.
The bill would make it a criminal offence to ‘collect’,
‘make’ (produce and make available on a website), or ‘transmit’ (by email,
voice-mail or any other telecommunication method’) any record of information of
a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of
terrorism. This clause is followed by the statement that ‘It is a defense for a
person charged with an offence under this section to satisfy the court that he
had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession’ (Suppression of Terrorism
Bill, 2003: Part II, 5).
Critics say that it will become extremely risky to use the
Internet when users are unsure what constitutes information likely to be
‘useful’ to terrorists. Critics argue that other provisions of the bill
relating to increased powers of search and seizure by the police, will lead to
a growing sense of distrust and uncertainty in using the medium in Kenya.
The bill can be seen as a response by the Kenyan government
to recent criticism by the UK and US that there have been too few arrests in
connection with terrorist attacks in recent years. The Kenyan government wants
to be seen to be acting decisively against terrorists in order to qualify for
US aid – especially in the light of the crippling travel advisories and flight
ban recently imposed by countries such as the UK and US. The Administration of
Justice and Legal Affairs Committee rejected the bill in July 2003, saying that
it “threatens to tear apart the very fabric of one nation and could offer
fertile ground for inter-religious animosity and suspicion”.
Kenya has also recently launched a national review of its
Constitution. According to Muriuki Mureithi, the draft Constitution recognises
access to information as a fundamental human right and therefore views ICT
policies and strategies as tools that not only provide access to communication,
but aim to safeguard that communication. According to the draft Constitution,
‘The Republic shall promote equitable development, recognise and enhance the
role of science and technology, eliminate disparities in development between
regions of the country and sectors of society, and manage national resources
fairly and efficiently for the welfare of the people’ (Kenya Draft
Constitution, 14.15). Universal access to ICTs is consequently deemed a
constitutional imperative not to be used for political expediency in Kenya.
References
International Telecommunications
Union statistics report, 2001
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/
AISI-Connect National ICT
Profile, Kenya
http://www2.sn.apc.org/africa/countdet.CFM?countries__ISO_Code=KE
Cybercrime: Kenya is a Sitting
Duck
http://allafrica.com/stories/200109040536.html
Okoth F. Mudhai and George Nyabuga ‘The Internet: Triumphs
and trials for journalism in Kenya’, Highway Africa 2001
http://www.highwayafrica.org.za/presentations/55.doc
Kenyans Must Reject Anti-Terrorism Bill, The Nation: 2 July
2003:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307020986.html)
Constitution of Keyna Review
Committee
http://www.kenyaconstitution.org/index.shtml
IFJ, East Africa Page
http://www.ifj-pa.org/docs/eastafrica.htm
Footnotes
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