Nairobi News

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said that homosexuality is not an issue of any importance to the people of the republic of Kenya.

While fielding questions from CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Friday night, the president was categorical on the subject of decriminalizing homosexuality in Kenya, saying the practice is not acceptable.

“I want to be very clear. I won’t engage in a subject that is of no main importance to the people of the republic of Kenya. This is not an issue, as you would want to put it, of human rights. This is an issue of society, of our own base, as a culture, as a people regardless of which community you come from,” the president said.

“This not acceptable, this not agreeable. This not about Uhuru Kenyatta saying yes or no. This is an issue of the people of Kenya themselves who have bestowed upon themselves a Constitution, after several years of clearly stating that this is not acceptable and is not a subject they are willing to engage in at this time and moment,” he further stated.

NON-DISCRIMINATION

He continued, “In years to come, possibly after I am President, who knows, maybe our society would have reached a state where that those are issues that people are willing to freely discuss. I have to be honest with you. Those are the laws that we have and that are supported by 99% of people regardless of where they come from.”

The president however stated his government’s position on non-discrimination of all Kenyans, their sexual orientation notwithstanding.

“No Kenyan, no Kenyan should be abused, should be mistreated. Every Kenyan is protected by the law, every single Kenyan. But they also must recognize that their freedoms must be taken into the entire context of the society that they live in. Because this is not a question of government accepting or not accepting. This is a question of society,” he said.

President Kenyatta met with the CNN journalist on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London.