Hon. Nsereko’s bill also amends the Computer Misuse Act, which criminalises hacking. It is fair enough because nosing into others business or reprogramming their work is awful. But the part that talks of voice or video recording another person or share information about another person.
That touches the core of news reporting. It also prohibits recording of criminal action and lewd actions that might be in public interest. Some crimes have been resolved on footage captured by civilians. Citizen journalism cannot be criminalized.
And the penalty is 15 Million Shillings or 7 years in jail or both. People will begin to fear capturing criminal acts and justice will not be served. So justice in this case hinders justice. The bill is a good proposal with a streak of relative emotional spates that can be further rationalized before people get hurt.
The Writer Is a Communications Expert.
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