Ksh 100,000 Fine or 1 Year In Jail For Flying Drones In Kenya

If you are planning to fly drones in Kenya, you need to seek permission from the relevant authorities or risk paying 100,000 shillings fine or facing a one-year jail term.

According to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority(KCAA), flying drones is now prohibited in Kenya and anyone caught flouting the new directive will face the stipulated consequences.

“Operation of drones by the public for video coverage, film making, surveillance, and any other interference with Kenyan airspace,” read the new directive.

“Any person who contravenes the provisions of paragraph one commits an offense and shall be liable, upon convictions, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand shillings or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.”

“The public is hereby reminded of the prohibition of the use of UAVs, which shall apply to any person who imports, tests, operates a remotely piloted aircraft,”

Legislators had annulled the act (Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems Regulations, 2017) stating that it had limited public participation during the drafting of the regulations.

Most Kenyans are in protest against the Act that restrains them from using drones in the country, stating that they are eagerly waiting for the Government to review the act as soon as possible.

The Government has been confiscating the drones from individuals especially at the Jomo Kenyatta airport.

Kenya is one of the countries that is yet to allow the use of drones by private individuals for commercial purposes. Other African countries like Rwanda revised their restrictions on the usage of drones.

Meanwhile, it still remains a crime to use drones by private individuals in Kenya until the Remote Piloted Aircraft Systems Regulations, 2017 are revised.