Hello and welcome to the Evening Brief Newsletter where we are dissecting the new Bill President William Ruto just assented to law.
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Multiplier Effect
President William Ruto today assented to the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill, a piece of legislation touching on at least 12 other sectors.
The Transport sector, which has been his focus in recent months, has seen 3 different traffic penalties including one that was multiplied to the power of 1,000.
The penalties: The Traffic Act Cap 403 only fined a person who tears or defaces a traffic offence notification Ksh200, a figure that has since ballooned to Ksh200,000.
The Act also stipulated that motorists who fail to appear in court or pay the penalty after committing an offence were to pay an additional fine of Ksh200. The fine has since been increased to Ksh2,000
The new law also mandated car owners to report if they find traffic notifications fixed on their cars torn failure to which they will foot the Ksh2,000 penalty.
"If any person, other than an authorised person, removes from a vehicle a police notification of a traffic offence which has been affixed thereto by a police officer in pursuance of this section, or any portion of such notification, or tears or defaces the same, he shall be guilty of an offence and liable on a first conviction to a fine not exceeding Ksh200, and on each subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding Ksh500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months," reads the new law.
"Delete the words "two hundred shillings (Ksh200), and on each subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred shillings (Ksh500)" and substitute therefore the words "two hundred thousand shillings (Ksh200,000, and on each subsequent conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred thousand shillings(Ksh500,000)."
Catch Up Quick: This comes a week after the Head of State launched a new road safety plan determined to phase out old driving licenses in three years.
In its place, all drivers will be expected to hold a smart license whose penalty points can be inflicted upon traffic infractions. (Check our Tuesday Newsletter for extensive coverage here)
Military's New Direction
The new Law has also empowered scholars looking to specialise in national security issues to pursue their degrees at other universities.
For now, only the National Defence University has been cleared to offer the certification.
After the bill was passed into law, President William Ruto's powers were expanded to approve other universities to offer the degree.
At the same time, all employees of national organs handling national security issues were banned from participating in industrial action.
The affected organs include; the Kenya Defence Forces, the Kenya Police, the Kenya Prisons Service, and the Administration Police among others.
The third major amendment is on the Universities Act Cap 210 so that the President may establish more than one specialised degree awarding institution specialising in National security issues. This shall promote university education for students wishing to pursue specialised degrees in National security issues," announced the National Assembly Clerk before the Head of State assented to the bill.
"Section 3 (2) of the Employment Act exempts the Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya Police, Kenya Prisons Service, Administration Police, Kenya Coast Guard and Natural Resources from the application of the Act. The justification behind the exemption was in view of the national security consideration hence exempted bodies play a critical role in national security and hence should not participate in industrial action as provided for in the Employment Act," he added.
KRA Directive
The law also mandates all employers to remit the Industrial Training Levy to the Kenya Revenue Authority every 9th day of the month and not the 5th day as it has always been.
Justification: The move is aimed at harmonising the new changes with the period within which the Pay as You Earn (PAYE) is remitted to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
The levy was introduced in 2022 and since then, KRA has collected a total of Ksh1.45 billion which was disbursed to the National Industrial Training Authority (NITA) for distribution.
Special Mentions
Other highlights from the new law include:
- Strengthening the Office of the Attorney-General by replacing the Public Service Commission with an Advisory Board to recruit and recommend Deputy Solicitors-General and State Counsel to cure shortage gaps.
- Empowered the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary with more duties for court administration and custody of registers.
- Replacing Utamaduni Day with Mazingira Day as a public holiday, emphasizing environmental conservation.
- Exempted denatured alcohol and gas meters from paying Value-Added Tax to promote local manufacturing and enhance access to clean energy for low-income households.
Data Point (Police Killings)
A new report by Missing Voices has shown an improved trend in police killings, which dropped from 130 in 2022 to 118 last year representing a 9.2 per cent drop.
In total, 128 people were killed or forcefully disappeared in 2023. This is a 15.8% drop compared to a
total of 152 cases recorded in 2022.
Most of the killings were recorded in July (32) followed by January (13), May (12), March (10) and December (10).
Nairobi recorded in Nairobi (46) followed by Kisumu (9), Kisii (7), Migori (7), Machakos (6), Nakuru (6) and Laikipia (5).
Here are five other stories to keep tabs on;
- Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja bans all pending building development approvals and halts all excavation activities.
- President William Ruto vows to track down a foreign tycoon of Turkish origin accused of shortchanging Naivasha residents.
- After months of uncertainty, DCI finally publishes the face of the prime suspect in the murder of Rita Waeni in January this year.
- President Ruto launches a company that will sell imported cars in Naivasha using the Kenyan Shilling, instead of the Dollar.
- Major Highways including Thika and Mombasa Road partially closed as floods wreak Havoc.
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This newsletter was written by Derrick Kubasu and edited by Brian Muuo.
Washington Mito contributed to the content.
Graphics prepared by Adongo Kyalo.
