President William Ruto has announced his stand in response to the ongoing debate about the legalisation of Lesbian Gay Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) following the Supreme Court ruling.
Ruto alongside his deputy Rigathi Gachagua stated that the government does not support calls to legalise the LGBTQ community in Kenya owing to the country’s Christian values and culture.
They spoke on Thursday, March 2 during the launch of the Women Fund at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).
“Mimi ni mcha mungu lakini desturi zetu haziturusu kufanya mambo kama hao. Hatuwezi enda kwa barabara ya wamama kuoa wamama wenzao au wanaume kuoa wanaume wenzao. Hii itafanyika kwingine lakini haitafanyika Kenya. Watoto wetu nyumbani wanahangaishwa na haya mafunzo.
Hatutapoteza ukristo na uisalmu siwezi ruhusu wamama wenzenu wawaletee competition ama wazee kupeana competition,” he stated.
Loosely translated as; “I am a Christian and our culture does not allow us to allow same-sex marriage. It can happen elsewhere but not in Kenya. I cannot allow our women to get competition from men who chase after men. We will not disregard Christianity and Islam for this,” Ruto affirmed.
Rigathi agrees with Ruto
On his part, DP Gachagua stated that the government was slow to comment on the matter as they were still processing why the Supreme Court made a ruling allowing the registration of LGBTQ as an NGO.
He, however, noted that while the government questions the ruling, they respect the court’s decisions.
“Sasa mama akioa mama mwingine wataambiana nini? Sisi hatutaki mambo hiyo. Hiyo ni mambo ya kishetani, kinyume na vile sisi tunaamini. Kiongozi wa inchi ni mcha Mungu. He will do what needs to be done…hiyo maneno sisi hatutaki,” he stated.
“We have no problem with the court but we have to ask what they imagine when a woman marries another woman. We do not have that and that is against our beliefs,” Gachagua stated.
He added: “The President is a Christian and he will do what is needed. What they suggest is contrary to our belief. Therefore, we are not supporting that.”
This follows the Supreme Court ruling stating that the NGO board discriminated against an organisation that was seeking registration for advocacy work in the LGBTQ community.
In a majority judgment, the apex court upheld the decision of the High Court and the Court of Appeal which found the NGO Coordination Board violated the right to freedom of association by refusing to register an NGO that championed the rights of the LGBTQ community.
In this case, Eric Gitari had approached the NGO coordination Board seeking to register his NGO, an application which was rejected. He moved to the high court which allowed him to register his NGO.
The NGO coordination Board lodged an appeal at the Court of Appeal in Nairobi, challenging the whole judgment and decree of the High Court.
The Court of Appeal in 2019 by a majority of 3-2, dismissed the appeal, affirming the judgment of the High Court.
“NGO Coordination Board’s decision was discriminatory… it would be unconstitutional to limit the right to associate, through denial of registration of an association, purely on the basis of the sexual orientation of the applicants,” ruled the judges.
The judges noted that by refusing to register the NGO, the persons were convicted before they contravened the law which criminalizes gay sex.
