Kenya high court delays ruling on banning same-sex

The High Court has adjourned the much-awaited ruling on whether to decriminalize gay sex in Kenya to May 24.

Judge Chacha Mwita told a packed court in the capital, Nairobi, that the bench constituted to hear the case needed more time to prepare for the ruling, which had been due on Friday.

“We have had a few challenges, one of our colleagues is still on leave the other one is outside Nairobi while two of us are involved in other benches of more than three judges. It is not an easy task to bring the three of us together.”

The expected ruling that stirred hot debate follows a June 2016 petition eight petitioners, among them the Kenya Human Rights Commission rooting for acknowledgment of same-sex relationships.

It will be delivered at the Milimani courts by a three-judge bench.

Same-sex relationships are illegal in more than 70 countries, almost half of them in Africa, where homosexuality is broadly taboo and persecution is rife.

In Kenya, where same-sex relationships can lead to a 14-year jail sentence, campaigners for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) rights have become increasingly vocal in recent years.

Kenya arrested 534 people for same-sex relationships between 2013 and 2017, the government said. Kenya’s high court began hearings on the law last year.

Another section has it that “indecent practices between males” could see one land in jail for five years.

The petition seeks to repeal sections 162 and 165 of the Kenyan Penal code which they deem to be unconstitutional as its infringing on fundamental human rights.

The religious organizations opposing the petition, insist same-sex relations should remain illegal.

Campaigners say the colonial-era law violates Kenya’s progressive 2010 constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity, and privacy for all citizens.

They also submitted arguments based on India’s rejection of a similar law in August.