A proposal in the Railways Bill 2024 to impose life imprisonment on those convicted of vandalising railway infrastructure has been met with opposition.
At a public hearing on the proposed legislation in Nanyuki town, Laikipia County, those who presented their views to transport ministry officials wanted Section 169 of the bill to be dropped, arguing that it was a punitive measure.
According to the stakeholders, the controversial section proposes that anyone who steals spare parts from a train operating facility faces life imprisonment on conviction.
Section (c), under the subtitle 'Endangering lives of passengers', states that “a person who steals spare parts or component of a train operation facility installed on a railway line or equipment or material attached to a railway line, thus endangering safe operation of the train; commits an offence and shall be liable upon conviction, to imprisonment for life."
But the participants argued that if the bill is passed without amendments, many young people would rot in jail, especially those who collect scrap metal for sale. They proposed that a one-year-jail term would be fair, pointing out that "petty offenders" should not spend their entire lives in prison.
In their submissions to the ministry's ongoing public participation exercise, they argued that some incidents could be accidental.
“A young man may come across a detached bolt near the rail line and innocently collect it for sale to scrap metal dealers. Don’t you think the law is imposing a very harsh penalty by sending a youthful person to prison for the rest of his life for such a minor offence?” asked Pastor David Njung’e.
Pastor Njung'e also faulted a proposal to send passengers who forge tickets to jail for up to 10 years, pointing out that the solution to such minor offences that attract harsh punishment lies in reducing fares, which he noted have risen sharply.
Other participants who weighed in on the controversial life imprisonment clause included Ms Joyce Gicheru and Mr Isaac Ndirangu, who pointed out that the reforms sought by the Bill should help shed the colonial relics associated with Kenya's railways and in particular the operation of the century-old metre gauge railway.
But Ms Brenda Mwango, a legal adviser to the Ministry of Roads and Transport, defended the inclusion of the clause, arguing that a train normally carries up to 1,000 passengers and that in the event of a derailment caused by vandalism, so many people would lose their lives.
Mr Jonathan Kilelo, the safety engineer at Kenya Railways, described a railway line as critical infrastructure because of the nature of safety requirements on both metric and standard gauge railways, and because acts of vandalism could result in the mass killing of passengers.
“There was a time the Kenya President pronounced that interference with railway structure is actually equal to capital offence. It should be very clear in the law that acts that may cause massive deaths attract severe punishment and what we are doing is creating public awareness so that they avoid such offences,” explained Eng Kilelo.
The Ministry of Roads and Transport has spent the last three days gathering public views in the Mt Kenya region on the proposed law before moving to other parts of the country over the next two weeks.
The proposals in the bill are aimed at bringing about wide-ranging reforms in the railway sector, including inviting private operators into the railway infrastructure.
Currently, Kenya Railways performs all functions related to the regulation of railway operations for both metric and standard gauge railways.
The new bill proposes the creation of the Kenya Railway Corporation (KRC) to oversee the operation, construction and maintenance of the railways, while a Railway Regulatory Authority will take over functions such as licensing new investors in the railways as the sector opens up to new interested dealers.
