A gay Kenyan rugby play who is facing deportation from the UK has received massive support from the LGBTQ-inclusive rugby club Bristol Bisons teammates and other supporters.
Mr Kenneth Macharia’s predicaments have prompted more than 100,000 people to sign a petition calling on the UK authorities to keep him in the UK.
His supporters have also raised more than Ksh. 800,000 £8,000 through crowdfunding to help with the legal fees.
Through a social media post, the Bisons shared Mr Macharia’s rejection letter and wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that Kenneth received this letter from the home office today and has been told he will not be allowed to stay home in the UK. The fight is not over and we need your support to keep Ken home with his friends and family.
It is with a heavy heart that Kenneth received this letter from the home office today and has been told he will not be allowed to stay home in the UK. The fight is not over and we need your support to keep Ken home with his friends and family. pic.twitter.com/tGm8txAgaD
— Bristol Bisons RFC (@bisonsrfc) June 3, 2019
“Please share and help support Ken in his continued fight to stay here. We will not give up. We will not let him be persecuted for being himself and for what we represent,” read the post in part.
“His commitment to the ethos of rugby and inclusive gay rugby is second to none. We are at risk of losing one of the herd,” read the post.
Another tweet from the club also read, “A wholehearted thank you to everyone who has reached out and helped to spread the news about Ken. We are still working furiously on the situation, so we shall keep you posted.”
“Ken is an integral part of our rugby family. His commitment to the ethos of rugby and inclusive gay rugby is second to none. We are at risk of losing one of the herd.”
While awaiting the decision, Mr Macharia has been forced to rely on his 70-year-old mother Jacinta working extra hours as a nurse to support him while he lives in Glastonbury, Somerset since he is barred from working.
The 39-year-old said he is “feeling depressed” at the decision, which came as a big surprise, adding: “I am feeling hopeless at the moment.”
A Home Office decision letter sent to Macharia’s solicitor acknowledged that gay sex in Kenya was punishable by up to 21 years in prison and that LGBT people have reportedly been subjected to harassment, blackmail and rape. Holding hands or kissing in public can also lead to imprisonment.
The Home Office’s decision comes days after Kenya’s high court last month upheld laws that criminalise gay sex in what was described by a campaigner as “a sad day for the rule of law and human rights”.
Macharia, who first claimed asylum in May 2016, arrived in the UK on a student visa in 2009.
Macharia, a mechanical design engineer, has twice been granted extensions of his leave to remain, as a student and then as a highly skilled migrant.
He fears mob violence or blackmail if he returns to Kenya.
The club has petitioned the Home Office to halt the deportation.
