09 12 18 COMMENT Kenya

COMMENT on the Harmonised Draft Constitution of Kenya - Provisions affecting Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Information published on 17 November 2008 by the Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review Focus December 2009 London ARTICLE 19 · Free Word Centre · 60 Farringdon Road · London EC1R 3GA · United Kingdom Tel +44 207 324 2500 · Fax +44 207 490 0566 · info@article19.org · http://www.article19.org ARTICLE 19 Kenya and East Africa, ACS Plaza · Lenana Road · P.O.Box 2563 00100· Nairobi · Kenya Tel: +254 20 386 22 30/2 · Fax: +254 20 386 22 31 1 I. Introduction 1On 17 November 2009, the Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review of Kenya, , published the Harmonised Draft Constitution of the Republic of Kenya (hereinafter “Draft Constitution”). The Draft Constitution is expected to be adopted on or before 2 March 2010. Once adopted, it will then be subject to a constitutional referendum. With the purpose of contributing to public debate on current constitutional reform in the country, ARTICLE 19 has followed the development of the drafting of the new Constitution. In May 2009, we issued a Note commenting on the provisions relating to freedom of expression in the present Constitution and called on the Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review to ensure that the new provisions comply with international freedom 2of expression standards. In this Comment ARTICLE 19 does not ...