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Raila: Allow Kenyans to watch gay film ‘Rafiki’


Nasa leader Raila Odinga has urged the Kenya Films Classification Board (KFCB) to allow Kenyans to watch whatever they, like including banned gay film Rafiki.

KFCB chief executive Ezekiel Mutua had last month banned the film on grounds that its content promote lesbianism.

Mutua, the self-styled moral crusader, had argued that the movie’s depiction of homosexual practice runs counter to the laws and the culture of Kenyan people.

“It is our considered view that the moral of the story in this film is to legitimize lesbianism in Kenya contrary to the law and the board’s content classification guidelines,” Mutua said in a statement.

But Mr Odinga on Thursday told the Oxford Union in a lecture that Kenyans should be allowed the freedom of expression and the freedom to watch what they like.

He was commenting on the banning of the Rafiki film on lesbian love that premiered at the Cannes festival.

The film, telling the tale of two young women whose fathers are political rivals, is the first-ever film from Kenya to get a slot at the world’s most prestigious cinema festival.

 

During its premiere at the Cannes festival, the team received a standing ovation from those in attendance.