Politics, archive

Kenya slams US on reaction to security law

Buku said that the new law was good for Kenya and Kenyans

20.12.2014 - Update : 20.12.2014
Kenya slams US on reaction to security law

By Yassin Juma

NAIROBI 

Kenya on Saturday lashed out at U.S. reaction to a security law passed recently by its parliament, saying the U.S. had no moral standing to lecture it on justice.

It cited the presence of the U.S.-run detention camp in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay.

"In the U.S., the Federal Bureau of Investigation and intelligence officers have carte blanche in the fight against terrorism and biological warfare," Munyori Buku, the head of Kenya's Presidential Strategic Communications Unit team, said.

"But our law has provided checks by courts of law," he added in a statement.

Buku said Kenya had no Guantanamo Bay, adding that the country's laws were better than the American Patriot and Homeland Security acts, which, according to him, gave "rogue powers" to security agencies.

Earlier in the day, U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said that Washington was "disappointed" by the limited time given to debate and consultation on a security bill, addressing the fight against terror in Kenya.

She added that the U.S. was "concerned" about several provisions in the legislation that appeared to limit freedom of assembly, media and access to refugee asylum.

Buku said, however, that these State Department remarks were a clear indication that the U.S. had decided to "go with the view of the noisemakers [lawmakers who expressed loud opposition in parliament on Friday before the controversial bill was passed], rather than the Security (Amendment Act) itself."

"Our law doesn’t curtail the freedom of assembly," Buku said.
"The U.S. State Department should read the law as passed, not go by what its associates want it to believe," he added.

He noted that Kenya would only allow a maximum of 150,000 refugees in it.

"The law is good for Kenya and Kenyans," Buku said. "It will help Kenya in the same way the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act have helped Americans," he added.

Kenya and the U.S. had closely cooperated in the fight against terrorism, especially in the East and Horn of Africa region, in the past.

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