Government publishes 37 amended laws

Kenya: The government has published a special issue of the Kenya Gazzette Supplement where some 37 laws have been amended through the Miscellaneous Amendment Act 2014.

The Kenya Gazzette Supplement No 160, dated November 24, 2014 highlights all the amended laws. Part of these is the Criminal Law Code cap 75 that introduces new conditions for courts to take into account when granting bails to suspects.

The Retirement Benefits Act cap 197, the Postal Corporation of Kenya Act of 1998, the Anti corruption and Economic Crimes Act of 2001 were also amended.

Other laws amended include the Veterinary Surgeons and Veterinary Para-Professionals Act of 2011 (No 29 of 2011), the Legal Education Act 0f 2012 (No 27 of 2012), the Universities Act 2012 and the Technical and Vocational Education Act 2013 (No29 of 2013).

Meanwhile, the Commission for University Education (CUE) has stated that it will not levy service charge directly to students even as universities demanded withdrawal of the new charges.

Questions have also been raised over possible 'double charge' on some of the items listed by the CUE if the president approves amendment to the Kenya Qualifications Framework Bill, 2013.

The place of regulatory agencies in programmes accreditations is also not clear as the framework also seeks to approve or recognise the various qualifications obtained in local and international universities.

The Kenya National Qualifications Authority as established in the Act, shall perform these functions in addition to setting standards for recognising qualifications obtained in Kenya and outside the country.

The development comes amidst revised rates gazzeted by the CUE.