Websites and computer applications that promote unlawful activities face deactivation on the strength of a court order as the government tightens the noose against cybercrimes and abuse of electronic gadgets in brand new law.
The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill 2024 prohibits the use of electronic mediums to promote unlawful activities including child pornography, terrorism, religious extremism and cultism, cyber-harassment and identity theft and fraud.
The law amended the current provisions in the Act to empower the National Computer and Cyber-Crimes Coordination Committee (N4Cs), an authorised person, to issue a directive to render a website or application inaccessible “where it is proved that the website or application promotes unlawful activities”.
“If an authorised person believes that a computer system, website or digital device is being used to promote illegal activities, child pornography, terrorism or extreme religious activities and cultic practices, the authorised person may apply to court for an order for the removal of content or materials from the computer system, website or digital device,” reads new section 46A of the amended law.
The Bill that culminated in the law change was a private member’s Bill sponsored by Wajir East MP Aden Mohamed.
The provisions in the new law are timely and come after the court judgment on September 10, 2025 casting doubt on the existence of a law prohibiting the sharing of pornographic content in Kenya.
Other that the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes (Amendment) Bill, President Ruto also signed into law the Privatization Bill 2025, a government sponsored Bill, which repeals the Privatization Act 2005 and provides the regulatory plan for the privatisation of public entities, “aiming to improve their operational efficiency”.
Also signed into law include the National Police Service Commission (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Wildlife Conservation and Management (Amendment) Bill 2023, Land (Amendment) Bill 2022, National Land Commission (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Air Passenger Service Charge (Amendment) Bill 2025.
The Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act, has introduced new definitions of the terms “computer misuse”, “cybercrime”, “assets”, “identity theft” and “virtual account” to enhance the government’s ability to trace, freeze and recover the proceeds of cybercrime.
According to the Act, in the event of a successful prosecution of an offender, the court is empowered to order the removal of any lawful or extremist content from a platform or device.
“The amendments are in line with the best practice in regulating access to harmful online content in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US), especially with regard to child pornography and extremism,” reads a National Assembly explainer on the new law.
Section 27 of the current law was also amended to enhance the offence of cyber-harassment to cover instances where a perpetrator knows that their conduct is likely to cause a person to commit suicide.
The existing offence of “phishing” has been expanded under the law to include identity theft committed through email or phone calls, “especially in light of the prevalence of SIM-SWAP fraud in the country”.
The Privatization Act 2025 introduces “a transparent, accountable legal blueprint” to accelerate the privatization of government entities and “boost efficiency in the public sector.”
The initiative aligns with President Ruto’s plan to privatize State owned companies, including the Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) among others to finance the financial year 2025/26 budget deficit.
The proposed privatization of KPC specifically seeks to raise Sh100 billion to help plug the Sh871 billion in the Sh4.3 trillion budget for the 2025/26 financial year.
In 2024, the Cabinet approved divestiture in six companies through stake sales at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
The new law creates a new Privatization Authority, to replace the Privatization Commission. Once privatized, all rights, assets, staff and ongoing projects will be transferred to the new authority.
To ensure fairness, the law introduces a Privatization Appeals Board (PAB) to handle disputes arising from the process.
The board will consist of a chairperson appointed by the President, an accredited arbitrator and three other persons appointed by the Cabinet Secretary of the National Treasury.
The Privatization Act, 2025, lists all official methods of privatization, including Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), tenders, and pre-emptive rights, while allowing the Cabinet to approve others.
The NPSC (Amendment) Act, sponsored by Suna West MP Peter Masara, recognises the importance of mental health of the police officers in the execution of their duties.
It provides for the mental wellness and well-being of police officers through the establishment of psychosocial support centres across the country.
In light of the recent reports of injury and loss of life of members of the police service due to mental wellness challenges, the new law mandates the NPSC to establish a counselling and psychosocial support unit.
The unit shall be devolved to all counties, to promote the mental health and wellbeing of the police officers as well as civilian members of the service.
The Land (Amendment) Act, sponsored by Ruiru MP Simon King’ara, requires the Chief Land Registrar to register all public land allocated to a public body or institution by the National Land Commission (NLC) and any land set aside by a developer for a public purpose.
The formulation of the law was premised on the fact that many public lands or land set aside for a public cause have no title deeds and therefore easy targets for the land grabbers.
The law further requires the registration of public land and land earmarked for public amenities to be published in the Kenya Gazette.
“This ensures that all public land and land set aside by developers for public amenities such as schools and hospitals is registered and publicised. This will prevent any grabbing of the land or its later use for a private purpose,” the National Assembly explainer reads.
The NLC (Amendment) Act 2023 by Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, empowers the NLC to interrogate past land injustices for an additional period of five years after the original power granted to the commission to interrogate historical land injustices lapsed in May 2017.
NLC will now review all grants or dispositions of public land to establish their propriety or legality and hear all affected parties within a period of five years from the commencement of the amendment.
“The extension shall allow the commission to resolve land issues in Coastal counties and issues relating to public land previously earmarked for settlement of landless persons by the government,” says Mr Baya.
The Air Passenger Service Charge (Amendment) Act, sponsored by the government, reallocated the funds from the Tourism Promotion Fund (TPF) to the Tourism Fund (TF) to eliminate duplication of roles, improve efficiency and enable the government to finance tourism-related projects from a single source.
The law aligns the use of the Air Passenger Service Charge with policy on the merger of State corporations with overlapping or related mandates to improve operational efficiency and eliminate redundancy “with TPF and TF set for merger into a single entity”.
The Wildlife Conservation and Management (Amendment) Act 2023, sponsored by Lamu East MP Capt. Ruweida Obo, amended the parent law to include additional marine wildlife among the wildlife species for which victims may be compensated for injury or death.
This means that Kenyan communities living adjacent to marine areas can now be compensated for injuries suffered from attacks by sharks, stonefish, whales and stingrays.
