Law Society of Kenya v Attorney General & another [2021] eKLR meeting or a procession. The only reason is that ‘… it is not possible to hold the proposed public meeting or public procession for the reason that notice of another public meeting or procession on the date, at the time and at the venue proposed has already been received by the regulating officer…’. 118. The position is impermissible. A regulating officer must exercise discretion on the basis of a wide range of considerations and in line with the powers and duties as provided for in the Constitution, the Police Act and any other law. Restricting a regulating officer to such an extent is unimaginable. 119. Sub-section 7 calls upon the organizer of a meeting or a procession to mandatorily assist the police in the maintenance of peace and order at the meeting or procession. The manner in which the organizer is to assist the police is not defined. Further, police work is a technical one where police officers undergo training prior to serving. Placing such a duty to a citizen amounts, to an extent, to an abdication of duty on the part of the police. It also places the organizer in such a vulnerable position in the hands of police officers and may be susceptible to abuse. 120. Sub-section 8 empowers the police to issue orders and directions stopping or preventing the holding of a public meeting or a procession. It also demands that such orders and directions by the police must be obeyed. What comes out of the sub-section is a grant of blanket powers to the police. The powers which the police ought to issue must be qualified to only those which are lawful. The Police Act is very deliberate on this. It states, times without number, that any orders to be issued by the police must be lawful orders. For instance, Section 49(2) and (4) of the Police Act is to the effect that any orders and directions given to a surbodinate police officer by a superior one must be lawful. The provisions state as follows: (2) Where any duty, power or discretion is imposed or conferred by this Act or any other law on a police officer of any specified rank or holding any specified office, the police officer, shall, in the performance of such duty or the exercise of such power or discretion, and subject to the lawful orders and directions of any police officer to whom the police officer is directly subordinate, and any senior police officer, if the occasion arises where it is expedient to do so, perform any such duty or exercise any such power or discretion. (4) A police officer who performs an official duty or exercises police powers shall perform such duty or exercise such power in a manner that is lawful. 121. Section 51(1)(a) and (b) of the Police Act further provides that: (1) A police officer shall – (a) obey and execute all lawful orders in respect of the execution of the duties of office which he may from time to time receive from his superiors in the Service; (b) obey and execute all orders and warrants lawfully issued; 122. Section 51(2) of the Police Act cushions a police officer who fails to comply with an unlawful order in the following manner: A police officer who fails to comply with an unlawful order shall not be subjected to disciplinary proceedings. 123. This Court further takes judicial notice of the fact that even the Director of Public Prosecutions has of late been warning police officers from issuing and executing unlawful orders. 124. Sub-section 8 is, hence, a provision which can be freely used to issue unlawful orders and directions. The omission of the words ‘lawful orders and directions’ was deliberate with a view to create room for possible issuance of unlawful orders and directions. The provision is, therefore, a threat not only to the Constitution, but also to the law. Since the provision is in contrast with the Constitution and the Police Act, then that provision must give way. 125. Sub-section 2 deals with notifying the police of the public meeting and procession. The requirement is totally in order. The police must be notified so that they may integrate such meetings and processions in their planning. Even without that provision in http://www.kenyalaw.org - Page 31/34