Atheists In Kenya (AIK) P.O. Box 6758 – 00200 Nairobi www.atheistsinkenya.com [email protected] (+254) 717 11 00 66

10th February 2016 OUR REF: AIK/01/02/10/2016 The Hon. Attorney General Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice, Sheria House, Harambee Avenue
 P.O. Box 40112 – 00100 Nairobi
 Dear Sir, REF: APPEAL AGAINST REFUSAL TO REGISTER “ATHEISTS IN KENYA” AS A SOCIETY BY THE REGISTRAR OF SOCIETIES The above subject refers. This is an appeal against the decision of the registrar of societies refusal to register ATHEISTS IN KENYA SOCIETY as a society. The decision was communicated via letter dated 14th January 2016 (for ease of reference we have attached a copy of the said letter). The reason given for refusal was “the registrar has reasonable cause to believe that the interests of peace welfare or good order in Kenya would be likely to suffer prejudice by reason of your registration as a society”. Dissatisfied with the registrar’s decision we are therefore filing this appeal in accordance to section 15 (1)(b) of the Societies Act. The grounds of our appeal are: 1. Article 47 of the constitution gives every person a right to administrative action that is expeditious, efficient, lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair. It is our assertion that the refusal to register Atheists In Kenya was neither reasonable nor lawful. 2. Fair Administration Act, No. 4 of 2015, which gives effect of Article 47 of the Constitution applies to all administrative bodies and the registrar of societies is no exception. The registrar deliberately disregarded Section 4 (3) of this Act given that she was aware that her decision would adversely affect the members of Atheists In Kenya she failed to inter alia: a) Give prior and adequate notice of the nature of reasons for her proposed refusal to register Atheists In Kenya. www.atheistsinkenya.com

b) Give Atheists In Kenya an opportunity to be heard and to make representations in that regard c) Give a statement of reasons for her decision d) Give information, materials and evidence she relied on in making the decision. 3. Article 24 which states that “a right or a fundamental freedom in the Bill of rights shall not be limited except by law, and then only to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom, taking into account all relevant factors..”. Our position is that any reason given for limitation of a right must be in line with Article 24. The registrar has not demonstrated how the registration of Atheists In Kenya would be prejudicial to the interests of peace welfare and good order and whether this is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society. We attach herewith the constitution of Atheists In Kenya and you can verify that Atheists In Kenya does not intend to cause prejudice of any kind. 4. It is our case that the registrar in her refusal to register Atheists In Kenya is acting in an illegal and unconstitutional manner contrary to the letter and spirit of the law. This is a blatant abuse of her discretionary powers given under Section11 of the Society’s Act. As pointed out earlier she has failed to identify which object, if any, would cause the prejudice that she alleges.

It is on these grounds that we ask that your Honorable office, to quash the decision of the registrar and order her to register Atheists In Kenya (AIK) as a society

We look forward to a positive response from you and kindly note that we are available for clarification on any issue.

Sincerely yours,

Harrison Mumia President, AIK cc. Registrar Of Societies

www.atheistsinkenya.com