Kenyans have raised concern on social media over a proposed computers and cybercrime bill that seeks to make it mandatory for all tech entrepreneurs seeking to set up a company in the country to have a degree in information and communication technology (ICT).

This effectively means that Bill Gates, world richest man and founder of US-based tech giant MicroSoft, cannot set up a tech company in the East African nation since he dropped out of Harvard University.

This, according to tech enthusiast in the country, is just ridiculous.

Bill Gates is not fit to run an ICT company in Kenya, as per this proposed law. pic.twitter.com/XP9FQIKyVJ

— #SafariNaMarafiki (@njooro) July 6, 2016

This also mean a number of other successful tech entrepreneurs in the world and in Kenya who never got a university degree are cannot set up a company in the country.

It means Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, Skype founder and the craft silicon cannot practice in kenya. #KillTheICTBill

— Glad Gladness (@gladgladness) July 6, 2016

The East African nation has one of the fastest growing tech startups on the continent and has attracted global investors. The country’s tech scene could be worth as much as $1 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.

According to Joseph Mucheru, Kenya’s ICT minister, the draft Computer and Cybercrimes Bill 2016 aims to address rising hacking cases in the country by allowing investigator to use advanced forensic procedures when doing their analysis.

“In this bill, we are still protecting your data and privacy, but there is a clear process on how the law enforcement agencies access any record or information that they require in their investigations,” The Star quoted Mucheru telling reporters during a press briefing.

The bill however goes further and seeks to license ICT practitioners. It is this section that has raised question particularly on the requirements set therein as conditioned to be met before being licensed.

Kenyan’s took on twitter using the hashtag KillTheICTBill to express their concerns over that part of the bill.

Let the youths be.
ICT is home of 1000+ entrepreneurs.
By passing this you kill entrepreneurship in kenya.#ICTBill #KillTheICTBill

— Mwangi Francis® (@Rtmwangifrancis) July 6, 2016

The bill, which borrows from Budapest Convention on Cybercrime – an international treaty to ensure harmony in national laws on cybercrimes effected in July 2004, also recommends a 20 million shilling ($200,000) fine or 20 year jail term or both for anyone found spreading hate speech online. This is double the penalty stipulated in the current law.

Kenya suffered a bloody post-election violence in 2007-08 after politicians used hate speech to rally their supporters against each other in a hotly contested election. About 1,200 people were killed and thousands other displaced from their home during the month-long violence.