Kenyans will have to trade some of their freedoms for security if Members of Parliament pass new laws that will dramatically expand the president’s powers as the focus on the war on terror shifts from the shores of Kismayu to the streets and villages in Kenya.

President Kenyatta says current laws prevent him from effectively responding to a war that is increasingly becoming unpredictable. But opposition politicians have accused the president of trading freedom for security, warning that hard-won liberties are “on the verge of being rolled back and our rights taken away,” as the president relies on his coalition to pass the new laws before parliament breaks for Christmas.

“We [Cord] will challenge the new laws in the Supreme Court,” Farah Maalim, a member of ODM said. “We can’t allow the government to use the security situation to rewrite Kenyan laws.”

During the debate on the eve of the country’s 51st Independence Day celebrations, opposition MPs said it was a sad day for the country as the state clawed back the hard-won freedoms enjoyed by Kenyans.

“This Bill [Security Laws Amendment Bill] will lead to the securitisation of our state; it is a return visa to the autocratic Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi state that we thought we had buried in the dustbin of history,” said Ababu Namwamba, an ODM MP and chair of the Public Accounts Committee.

The legislation was rushed through parliament with little public participation as demanded by the country’s Constitution.

“The notice for public participation was very short,” said Regina Opondo, executive secretary for Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (Creco). “The drafters have failed to ensure the legislation meets the minimum constitutional requirements and that it should not infringe on our rights and freedoms,” she added.

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The omnibus Security Laws Bill amends more than 20 pieces of legislation ranging from the Prevention of Terrorism Act, National Intelligence Service Act, Hotels and Restaurants Act to Radiation Protection Act. But the government insists the new laws are needed to bolster the security forces in the war on terror, saying the current laws have severely constricted the government’s ability to combat domestic terror.

One of the new amendments in the Prevention of Terrorism Act is to increase the detention period of suspects from 90 days to 360 days — violating the Constitution, which requires a suspect to be charged in court within 24 hours of arrest. The Kenyan law provides bail for terror suspects.

Terrorism will no longer be bailable and the Evidence Act has been reviewed to allow admission of digital evidence such as photographs and videos to ensure no evidence is dismissed on technicalities.

Kenya’s spies will now have the right to intercept telephone communication and access calls, text and e-mail records without a court warrant.

For the first time since the disbandment of the notorious Special Branch, the National Intelligence Service will not only have powers to arrest suspects, but also run covert operations and “take pre-emptive strikes” to foil terror plots. Inadequate inter-agency co-operation has been blamed for the country’s poor response to attacks.

As a result, a new National Counter Terrorism Centre bringing together the military, the police and the spy agency will co-ordinate counter terrorism efforts between all security agencies.

Other amendments remove security of tenure for the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the NIS to give the president a free hand in dismissing them for incompetence. However, some say this will remove the independence of these institutions, which have in the past been abused for partisan political interests.

Kenya’s civil society, who continue to face accusations from the Kenyatta administration of being “foreign agents,” has not been spared. Civil society leaders have opposed a new law that will see the government tighten its grip over the activities of about 350,000 not-for-profit organisations in the country.

The Cabinet Secretary of Devolution will have discretionary powers to change the legal identity of an organisation. According to the amendment, “…the Cabinet Secretary may… review the classification of public benefit organisations.”

This means the Cabinet Secretary could define an NGO as pro-opposition, giving the minister grounds to dissolve it, says Irungu Houghton, who works for the Society for International Development (SID).

The media and social media users have also been targeted under the law. It will be a felony to publish “obscene, gory or offensive material which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the general public.” And this will attract a fine of either $11,000 for private individuals or $55,000 for media houses.

Some laws have greatly infringed on civil and political liberties contained in the Bill of Rights. The Cabinet Secretary for Interior will have the powers to decide where and when public demonstrations would take place, and hold organisers of the protests responsible for any damage to public property.

Opposition leaders say this law could be used to muzzle them as the next election in 2017 draws near. A “Patriot Bill” is also under consideration to rein in private and public individuals whose actions could compromise national security.