Corridors of Justice: D-Day for Kenya’s LGBT+ community

The Kenyan LGBT+ community are waiting with bated breath for the judgement of the landmark ruling on decriminalizing homosexuality in the country.

The High court is on Friday expected to make the ruling that will to some extent change the basic norms of Kenyans as we know them.

All eyes will be on the three-judge bench of Justices Roselyne Aburili, John Mativo, and Chacha Mwita with the burden to rule on a case challenging laws that criminalize same-sex relationships on the land.

The petitioners have asked the judges to declare the laws unconstitutional and a violation of human rights with a ruling in their favor becoming a major win for the Kenyan gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

It will be interesting to see how the leadership of the country will take the news after President Kenyatta termed gay rights as a non-issue in Kenya, adding that majority of Kenyans do not support homosexuality.

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“I want to be very clear, I will not engage in any subject that is not of any major importance to the people and the Republic of Kenya. This is not an issue of human rights, this is an issue of society, of our own base as a culture as a people regardless of which society you come from. This is not acceptable, this is not agreeable,” Kenyatta said at the time.

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“Those are the laws that we have and those are the laws that are 100 percent supported by 99 percent of Kenyans regardless of where they come from,” he added.

The case was filed in 2016 by three Kenyan gay rights organizations seeking to have the High Court declare sections 162 (a) and (c) and section 165 of the Penal Code unconstitutional.

The groups argue that the laws violate the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, the right to human dignity and the right to freedom from discrimination.

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If the judges agree with the petitioners, Kenya would be the first East African country to decriminalize homosexuality.

The ruling was set to be delivered in February but the presiding judges pushed it to May citing a heavy workload.

Parts of Kenya’s penal code states that anyone who has “carnal knowledge… against the order of nature” can be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

Another section recommends a five-year jail sentence for “indecent practices between males”.

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A week ago, a group of refugees who are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community staged a protest outside the United Nations High Commissioner office in Nairobi over alleged neglect.

The group wanted to seek the UNHCR Inspector General’s attention over a myriad of challenges that include lack of documentation and financial support, now for months.

They also cited fear for their lives since alongside other refugees they have been camping outside the UNHCR’s office which is located along Waiyaki Way and now want to be allocated a safe house.

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One of the transgender refugees who spoke to  and sought anonymity said they left Kakuma refugee camp after receiving threats due to their sexual orientation.

“I left Somalia because of war in 2011. I had also started receiving threats from Al-Shabaab for being a transgender,” he said.

Another transgender refugee from Congo said without documents, “we cannot move freely without being arrested by police. We have suffered for long and UNHCR is doing nothing to help.”

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