A section of elders and youth groups in the North Rift region has challenged President William Ruto to come out and issue a strong stand against the LGBTQ+ community in the country.
According to the elders and the youth, Kenya’s cultural heritage is at risk of being eroded by Western culture.
Speaking in separate media briefings in Eldoret town on March 6, 2023, the Kalenjin Council of Elders (Myoot) Chairperson John Seii noted that LGBTQ people were strangers in the African set-up.
“We have our cultural and traditional practices that we have guarded for years, and there has been no time when we allowed same sex relationships or marriage,” Seii said.
“What we are seeing cropping up amongst your young people is something strange that we must not allow to continue,” he added.
The elders expressed the need for the Head of State to stamp his authority by pronouncing himself on the matter.
They said the President has a duty to protect the Constitution.
“Our laws are very clear. Marriage is only between a man and a woman. Anything contrary to that is an illegality. The president swore to protect the Constitution, and now is that time he has to make his stand known,” said James Odour, the Luo Council of Elders chairperson in Uasin Gishu County.
Is it allowed for Kenyan youth to associate with the LGBTQ+ community?
Similar sentiments were shared by Collins Kemboi, the chairperson of the Uasin Gishu Youth Council. Kemboi expressed concerns that many young people were being lured into what he described as a weird practice.
“People might think it’s not a big deal, and that we should allow people to make their choices. What they don’t know is that choices have consequences,” the youth leader.
“If we allow our youth to be part of this weird society that allows a woman to marry a fellow woman and the same to a man, we will basically be agreeing to never wanting to see children in future,” he added.
The youth and elders spoke against the LGBTQ+ community despite the Kenyan Constitution expressly safeguarding the right to association.
However, existing laws have loopholes for discrimination against the community as only marriages between a man and a woman and recognised.
This expresses the need for laws that protect the rights of every Kenyan irrespective of their sexual orientation.
