Kenyan Journalists Protest Law Threatening Jail Time for Criticizing Politicians

Journalists and other members of Kenya's media united in outrage on Thursday after lawmakers approved a new bill threatening reporters with fines and prison if they published anything that damages the reputation of members of parliament.

The bill, which was approved late on Wednesday but still needs to be passed by the senate and president to become law, introduced a new offense of criminal defamation of parliament.

One supporter of the bill in parliament said it was needed to protect politicians against "mob justice."

But Kenya's media did not take the news lightly. Many of the country's newspapers published front-page editorials under banner headlines condemning the move, saying it would undermine investigations into pervasive corruption and shield unscrupulous officials.

"Dark day in graft war as MPs kill media probe," wrote one paper, The Standard.

"It's a crime to say anything MPs don't like," said the Daily Nation's headline, while The Star wrote: "Parliament passes law to punish media."

Related: Exclusive: Leaked Report Details Brutal Abuses by Kenyan Counterterrorism Forces

Convicted journalists would face fines of up to 500,000 Kenyan shillings ($4,900) or two years in prison, under the measure passed on Wednesday.

An outspoken Catholic Priest Ambrose Kimutai told the Daily Nation that the bill was deeply unpopular not just among journalists but also with Kenyan citizens who rely on independent media.

"The MPs are playing with fire," Kimutai said. "Where there is no freedom, people will rise up to fight for it."

Member of parliament Nicholas Gumbo said the law would protect him and his colleagues from public trial in the press.

"Are we just going to allow false and scandalous information to be written about us just because we are MPs?" he asked, quoted by The Standard.

The Media Council of Kenya condemned the bill, saying it could be used "to silence critical reporting" and called on the senate to repeal the restrictive clauses.

Francis Atwoli, Kenya's Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions, said the president should block it.

"The decision… depicts a House hell-bent on taking Kenyans back to the old days when such draconian laws were exploited by the state to intimidate and harass the media in order to cover up for the ills in government," he told Daily Nation.

This is not the first time Kenya has tried to limit journalistic freedom. In 2013, Kenyan lawmakers approved another law restricting the media, but President Uhuru Kenyatta — who has promised a crackdown on corruption — rejected the legislation after widespread protests.

Related: Obama Heads to a Kenya in Turmoil on His First Visit to the Country as President

According to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists from July, independent media face significant restrictions in Kenya and journalists who are critical of the government often face harassment and violence.

Even though freedom of the press in theoretically a guarantee in the constitution, "President Kenyatta's Jubilee coalition is actively introducing bills that threaten to counteract those guarantees," wrote Sue Valentine, one of the co-authors of the report.

Watch VICE News' documentary Jihad In Kenya: