KENYAN GOV REJECTS UGANDA STYLE LAW

A senior Kenyan politician has compared homosexuality to threats like terrorism but says that current laws targeting gays do not need to be strengthened.

Majority parliamentary leader Aden Duale made the comments while responding to calls by some MPs for the government to implement tougher laws against homosexuality, reported Standard Digital.

Two weeks ago, MP Irungu Kangata, who has actively campaigned against LGBT rights, demanded that the state explain what measures have been taken to enforce laws criminalising homosexuality. He also asked if there were any organisations “championing” gay rights registered in Kenya.

This week, the matter was again brought up in the national assembly, with another MP, Alois Lentoimaga, asking: “Can’t we just be brave enough, seeing that we are a sovereign state, and outlaw gayism and lesbianism, the way Uganda has done?”

Duale, who represents the government in parliament, responded that he agreed that homosexuality was of serious concern.

“We need to go on and address this issue the way we want to address terrorism … “It’s as serious as terrorism. It’s as serious as any other social evil,” he said.

Duale argued, however, that current laws were sufficient to deal with the ‘threat’ and insisted that the government had not failed to enforce anti-gay legislation.

He also revealed that 595 cases of homosexuality had been investigated in Kenya since 2010.

With regard to gay organisations, Duale said that the police had not found any organisations openly promoting homosexuality in the country.

“We do not need to go the Uganda way, we have the constitution and the penal code to deal with homosexuality, and so this debate is finished, we will not be enacting any new tougher laws,” Duale was quoted as saying.

Same-sex consensual sex among adults is illegal in Kenya, with penalties of between five to 14 years imprisonment.

A global survey released last year found that 90% of Kenyans believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society.