Anti-gay Kenyans seek crackdown, new laws

Colin Stewart is a 45-year journalism veteran living in Southern…

Member of parliament Irungu Kang’ata (Photo by Samuel Kariuki courtesy of Denis Nzioka)

Members of parliament in Kenya are making plans to seek tougher anti-gay laws. At the same time, they are calling for stricter enforcement of the country’s existing laws against homosexual activity, Kenyan journalist Denis Nzioka reports.

Citing “reliable sources,” Nzioka reported that “a draft bill prohibiting same- sex relationships and acts is ‘looming.’ ”

Member of parliament Irungu Kang’ata today proposed that the parliament seek information about “alleged [non-]enforcement of anti-gay laws in Kenya by various organs of the National Government.”

“We are calling on the police to arrest those practising these immoral behaviour and, if they fail to do so, citizens will be called to do it themselves,” Kang’ata stated in February.

He reportedly has formed an anti-homosexuality caucus in parliament to push for further legislation against LGBT people in Kenya.

Under existing Kenyan law, sexual activity “against the order of nature” is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but arrests are rare.

Kang’ata proposes that people who acknowledge being gay should be arrested, Nzioka reported, although there is no law against being homosexual. The vaguely worded Kenyan law outlaws sexual activities “against the order of nature” that are practiced both by heterosexuals and by homosexuals.

For more information, read Nzioka’s full article in Breaking! Kenya: “Anti Homosexuality Bill ‘looming’ in Parliament as MP (cunningly) seeks Statement.”