Kenya Red Cross accused of hosting anti-LGBTQ+ ‘Platform of Hate’
‘An agenda set by and financed by white male supremacists’
South Africa-based Mamba Online reports:
A pan-African conference that has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights advocates is set to take place in Nairobi from May 12 to 17.
By Nompilo Gwala
Organised by the African Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF), the second Pan-African Conference on Family Values has raised alarm due to its associations with far-right groups and its anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-reproductive rights agenda.
Alvin Mwangi Irungu, youth activist and Team Lead at Youth Empowerment Movement Kenya, has closely monitored the event’s development and expressed grave concern.
“From May 12 to 17, the African Christian Professionals Forum (ACPF) will host its second Pan-African Conference on Family Values in Nairobi, Kenya,” Irungu explained. “ACPF is the regional branch of its parent organisation, the Nairobi-based lobbying NGO Kenya Christian Professional Forum (KCPF), which works to restrict and roll back sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and LGBTQ+ rights.”
He highlighted that the event will be held at The Boma Hotel, a property majority-owned by Kenya Red Cross, and supported by global groups widely labelled as promoting hate.
“Red Cross Kenya, a primary shareholder of The Boma Hotel is giving hate a platform,” said Irungu. “They are implementing programs to support marginalised and key populations… and yet have allowed their property to be used to platform hate and discrimination.”
Irungu further criticised the conference’s exclusionary approach to family values, stating: “One of the recent examples of policy exclusion is Kenya’s National Family Promotion and Protection Policy, launched in 2024. Many types of families are excluded from the policy’s extreme narrow definition… This is discriminatory of diverse families that we all belong to.”
According to Irungu, the funding and ideological foundations of the conference are neither African nor grassroots.
“There is nothing African nor Christian nor professional about this conference. It is an agenda set by and financed by white male supremacists,” he asserted. “All these actors have repeatedly been designated as hate groups because of the dangerous laws they have influenced.”
Citing examples, he added: “Family Watch International-US, for example, is directly responsible for homophobic bills and laws in Uganda, Kenya and Ghana.”
Activists have condemned the conference as a platform for exporting regressive ideologies across the continent. “Just in 2025 alone, they are exporting hate to Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Rwanda with four conferences set to happen between May and August funded by the same exact groups,” Irungu noted.
“These narratives put [marginalised communities] at greater risk, while silencing organisations that speak for or support them,” he warned. “Platforming hate has life-threatening consequences.”
The role of Kenya Red Cross has come under particular scrutiny due to its association with The Boma Hotel. Irungu says the organisation cannot absolve itself of responsibility.
“When Red Cross mentions that the entity is managed separately, does that mean that their conscience is managed separately?” he asked. “Kenya Red Cross owns Boma, denying responsibility doesn’t clean their hands, it just shows how deep they’re in it.”
Irungu and fellow activists have reached out to the Red Cross with letters, and are calling for broader support.
“Your platform is followed by various people including activists who can help us to shout about this anti-rights conference and help us to stop it, in turn stopping negative outcomes like tabling of bills and laws around anti-LGBTQ+ in Kenya and East Africa,” he urged.
He encourages readers to sign and share a petition to demand the Red Cross withdraw its support for the event.
“When we are silent, we wait for more deaths, more violence, and worse health outcomes!” Irungu concluded. “Hate and discrimination are not African values. Ubuntu teaches us to prioritise humanity first.”
