High Court to Deliver Ruling on Decriminalizing Homosexuality in Kenya

The High Court in Nairobi is on Friday expected to deliver a landmark ruling on decriminalizing homosexuality in Kenya.

The ruling on a case challenging laws that criminalize same-sex relationships in Kenya will be issued by a three-judge bench at the Milimani Law Courts.

The petitioners have asked the judges to declare the laws unconstitutional and a violation of human rights.

A ruling in their favor will be a major win for the Kenyan gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. 

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.

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.

The ruling will be delivered by Justices Roselyne Aburili, John Mativo, and Chacha Mwita.

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”.

In an interview last year, President Kenyatta termed gay rights as a non-issue in Kenya, adding that majority of Kenyans do not support homosexuality.

“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.

“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.