Victory at last! Bloggers will no longer be arrested and taken to court for offensive posts
High court yesterday February 6th 2017 ruled that a section of the law that criminalized defamation was unconstitutional.
Sometimes in January 2016, the government waged war on gallant bloggers for what it termed as ‘misuse of licensed telecommunication gadgets’.
Bloggers Robert Alai, Seth Odongo (Dikembe Disembe), Yassin Juma, Charles Mark Dienya, Eddy, Phelix G-cord, George Nyongesa, Cyprian Nyakundi and Patrick Msafiri were summoned by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for grilling.
Yesterday Justice John Mativo of the High Court made a ruling that put smiles on the faces of bloggers in Kenya.
Justice Mativo declared unconstitutional section 198 of the Penal Code saying that it violated the rights to freedom of expression as guaranteed under article 33 of the supreme law of the land.
The ruling means that if bloggers are accused of defamation, there will only be a fine and an apology but no jail term for them.
