LGBT community need not fear in Kenya

"There come (sic) a time when the nation is more important than an individual…." I may be quoting Prof George Saitoti (RIP) out of context, but I find no better way to describe the situation three judges found themselves in as they upheld sections of our law that proscribe same-sex unions.

On Friday, High Court judges Roselyn Aburili, Chacha Mwita and John Mativo made a ruling that was reminiscent of March 18, 2002 when then-Vice-President Saitoti resignedly uttered the famous words.

Although the Saitoti moment was dictated by forces beyond him, arising from then-President Daniel arap Moi’s wily ways that denied his VP a high-profile ruling party position, this verdict was quintessential.

In standing up to the well-oiled and -funded lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lobby, the judges affirmed Kenya’s good over their individual popularity in the eyes of the ‘civilised world’.

NON-ISSUE

The lobby wields such clout that, as US President, Barack Obama challenged President Uhuru Kenyatta to pronounce himself on gay rights during his 2015 visit.

“Bad things happen,” Obama had pontificated, when countries do not accept their citizens’ right to be homosexual.

The “most powerful man on earth” could not have chosen a better moment to push the LGBT agenda.

Power aside, African courtesy dictates deference to one’s guest. It was therefore Kenya’s proudest moment when President Kenyatta shut the conversation with his famous declaration that homosexuality was a “non-issue” in the country.

Three years later (April 2018), the pesky US media was on Uhuru’s case: CNN’s celebrated Christiane Amanpour cornered him in London to pronounce himself on LGBT rights.

“This is a global issue. You don’t think the idea of their privacy, equality and rights is important?” she asked him.

COURT CASE

The President’s response was apt: “This is not about Uhuru Kenyatta saying yes or no; this is an issue of the people of Kenya who have bestowed upon themselves a Constitution after several years of clearly stating that this is not acceptable and is not a subject they are willing to engage in at this time and moment.”

First-forward to last Friday. LGBT activists turned up at the High Court in their numbers expecting a favourable ruling.

They were challenging Section 162 of the Penal Code, which states: “Any person who… has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature… is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for 14 years.”

They also took issue with Section 165, which states: “Any male person who, whether in public or private... is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for five years.”

FAMILY

I’m not aware of anyone being arraigned for homosexuality. This means that, inasmuch as our laws proscribe the practice, it is a private affair with no place in the public domain.

LGBT lobbyists err when they attempt to overturn the Constitution’s declaration (Section 45:1-2): “The family is the natural and fundamental unit of society.… Every adult has the right to marry a person of the opposite sex, based on the free consent of the parties (writer’s emphasis).”

Legalising homosexual marriages is anti-life inasmuch as it negates procreation.

Therefore, as long as they practise homosexuality in private, without attempting to shove it down everyone else’s throat, LGBTs cannot allege discrimination and, indeed, they have nothing to fear.

Ms Kweyu is a consultant revise editor with the Daily Nation. [email protected] @KweyuZita