The High court has declared a number of bills previously passed by the National Assembly void. This is due to the fact that the assembly failed to involve the senate in the process.
The decision arrived at by the three judge bench also affects the law that establishes the Huduma Namba, which was just passed recently, as well as the Computer Cybercrime law.
The senate moved to court to challenge the decision by the National Assembly to pass bills without involving them. The judges ruled in their favour and declared the following 24 bills void:
Read: High Court Dismisses Bloggers’ Case Against Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Law
- The Public Trustee (Amendment) Act, No. 6 of 2018
- The Building Surveyors Act, 2018, No. 19 of 2018
- Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes, Act, No. 5 of 2018
- The Statute Law (miscellaneous Amendments), No. 4 of 2018
- The Kenya Coast Guard Service Act, no 11 of 2018
- The Tax Laws (Amendment) Act, No. 9 of 2018
- The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, No 18 of 2018
- The Supplementary Appropriation Act, No 2 of 2018
- The Equalization Fund Appropriation Act, No 3 of 2018
- The Sacco Societies (Amendment), 2018, No. 16 of 2018
- The Finance Act, No. 10 of 2018
- The Appropriations Act, no 7 of 2018
- The Capital Markets (Amendment) Act, No. 5 of 2019
- The National Youth Service Act, No 17 of 2018
- The Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 5 of 2019
- The Health Laws (Amendment) Act, No 5 of 2019
- The Sports (Amendment), Act, No. 7 of 2019
- National Government Constituency Development Fund, 2015
- The National Cohesion and Integration (Amendment) Act, 2019
- The Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2019
- The Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 9 of 2019
- The Appropriation Act, 2019
- The Insurance (Amendment) Act, 2019
- The National Government Constituency Development Fund Act 2015
The National Assembly however argued that nullifying the acts would result in huge losses for the state as the bills cost a lot.
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The contentious Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act of 2018 was declared constitutional in February,2020 after a year in court. The High court will now provide the way forward in the Cybercrime law and its implementation.
The High court’s decision also affects Huduma Namba which is as an amendment in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act. No.18 of 2018. The act establishes a National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) which saw Kenyans details taken to create a National Population Register.
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