Due to the way law enforcement uses the idle and disorderly offense in the Penal Code to harass the people, a parliamentary committee has backed a bill that would eliminate it.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, according to the Justice and Legal Affairs Committee, intends to shield the general population from unwarranted harassment by law enforcement.
George Murugara, the committee’s chair, stated: “While considering the Bill, the committee observed from a majority of the submissions that law enforcement agencies have abused Section 182 of the Penal Code to harass the public and infringe on fundamental human rights and freedoms.”
The committee concurs with the bill’s sponsor that the section should be repealed.
Sex workers acting inappropriately in public areas are included in the definition of idle and disorderly persons in Section 182 of the Penal Code Act.
A person who publicly acts in a way that is likely to disturb the peace is also included in this definition. So is someone who forces, procures, or encourages someone else to beg or collect alms.
The legislation also applies to anyone who publicly engages in an indecent act without a valid defense and to everyone who engages in immoral solicitation.
A one-month jail sentence, a fine of no more than Ksh100, or both may be imposed on those who are judged idle and disorderly.
For each successive offense, the legislation specifies a one-year prison sentence without the possibility of a fine.
The bill’s sponsor, MP David Gikaria of Nakuru Town East, claimed that the changes will make the criminal justice system more effective and efficient.
According to Mr. Gikaria, police officials have been harassing innocent Kenyans by abusing the current legal system.
“The committee recommends that the House approve the Bill without amendments,” Mr. Murugara stated after reviewing the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2022 and the comments made by stakeholders and the general public.
The committee reported receiving nine public memoranda on the Bill.
The judiciary informed the committee that certain minor offenses had been designated by the National Council on the Administration of Justice as needing to be decriminalized.
“They agreed with the proposed repeal but pointed out that it is also illegal to instigate, acquire, or encourage anyone to beg or collect alms. The Judiciary claims that a complete deletion of the clause would leave a gap in the penalties for those who incite youngsters to beg on the streets.” According to the committee,
The judiciary urged Parliament to study the Penal Code in greater detail in order to eliminate other minor offenses. According to the Attorney General, Section 182 of the Penal Code is discriminatory since it singles out sex workers while allowing other persons to act disorderly and indecently.
Section 182 of the Penal Code, according to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IIPOA), opens the door for human rights abuses and is imprecise and vague, rendering it open to abuse by law enforcement.
In comments on the Bill, IPOA stated that repealing the law “will improve relations between the public and the police and allow the police to focus on investigations of serious crimes instead of being bogged down with handling petty offenses.”
In the fiscal year 2022–2022, according to IPOA, the authority received 294 complaints of harassment and 126 complaints of wrongful detention, which ranks as the third-highest total of complaints.
According to the Kenya Law Reform Commission, Kenya is one of the few African nations that were colonized by Britain and still have vagrancy laws in their penal codes.
According to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, decriminalizing minor offenses will, among other things, relieve jail overcrowding, shorten the court case backlog, and target those accused of committing human rights violations.
