Nothing to do for lovers of aerial shooting in Kenya and for who wants to use tecnology to shoot video or pictures from the sky for commercial use: the drones remain outlawed and from today anyone .
This has been confirmed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) through an official statement gazetted eight months after the start of the legal procedure of prohibition whose procedure also included a passage in Parliament.
From today officially anyone who uses them, imports them or assembles them in Kenya and is found in possession of a drone will be liable to prosecution. For use in Kenyan skies, penalties can be up to a year's imprisonment or in Kes. 100,000 (about 900 euros) fine.
In the public notice in the Daily Nation, signed by the General Manager of the KCAA, Gilbert Kibe, it is written: "All operations of such drones by the public for video coverage, film making, surveillance and any other interference with Kenyan airspace are prohibited".
Obviously, the directive, which is part of the 2013 Civil Aviation Act which states that any unmanned aircraft is not allowed to operate either on the ground or in the skies and territorial waters of Kenya, excludes activities by the Government.
The law was amended by Parliament in 2018, legalizing the use of remotely controlled aircraft and equipment for checks and inspections of the territory. As part of these changes, the Parliament was called upon to vote to extend the licences for sports, filming and other commercial purposes. However, the committee in charge considered that the proposed set of rules was not able to address the issues raised regarding security, security and violation of personal privacy by drones in civil matters under the Charter of Rights.
It will now be the task of politicians to try to remedy a situation that, if well regulated, can benefit the country in terms of trade and promotion, at least by providing licenses to referenced companies and companies.
Attention therefore to those who put into circulation on Kenyan channels images or videos that can easily be traced back to the use of a drone and not to footage or photographs taken on board an aircraft.