When the National Assembly passed the Kenya Information Communications Bill last week, the media went wild, worried it was essentially an approval of censorship.

Various government officials hastened to urge the media not to panic. Kenya’s constitution provides for a free and open media, they said, and the president would not sign any bill that proposes to change that.

In a report on Capital News Monday, Fred Matiang’i, cabinet secretary for information communication and technology, announced the formation of a contact group to discuss the issues. The group will include representatives from the Media Owners Association, the Editor’s Guild, Kenya Union of Journalists, and the Kenya Correspondents’ Association.

Abdikadir Mohammed, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s constitutional advisor, said the president was committed to following the constitution to the letter, noting that the president had not signed the bill.

“The president will exercise his constitutional duty to safeguard the constitution,” Mohammed said.

After the bill passed in the assembly, All Africa reported that it includes provisions for fining journalists who violate the media law, and even banning them from practicing.

The new bill would establish a Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal which would replace the Complaints Commission of the Media Council. Tribunal members would be appointed by the Information Cabinet Secretary, who would be advised by a five-person panel that the secretary would also appoint. Panel members would be chosen from the Information Ministry, the Media Council, the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya, the Courier Industry Association of Kenya, and the Communications Authority.

Thus, the government would have authority over the media, dissenters claim. Any person or organization could lodge a complaint with the tribunal, which would have the ultimate judgment.

Furthermore, the tribunal would be given the power to “make any supplementary or ancillary orders or directions that it may consider necessary for carrying into effect orders or directives made,” according to the bill.

It isn’t just the media who object to the bill. Twelve non-governmental organizations under the Centre for Law and Research International (Clarion) said the bill “contravened the constitutional guarantee of a free media.”

Even some MPs have vowed to lobby the president not to sign the bill. The government was reportedly angry by some of the reporting of the Westgate terrorist attack, including coverage showing soldiers leaving with bulging shopping bags, the report said.