Russia has joined top leaders in Kenya to dismiss a recent judgment by the Supreme Court that allowed the gay community in the country to formally register their own association.
President William Ruto and his deputy Rigathi Gachagua on Thursday, March 2, publicly stated that homosexuality has no place in the Kenyan society and vowed not to allow same-sex marriages.
Reacting to the remarks, the Russian Embassy in Kenya claimed the gay agenda was being pushed by the Western nations, warning that "the West will come for more".
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The Russian government noted that the leaders have a responsibility of protecting the country's traditional values or risk losing humanity.
"That is only the beginning, the West will come for more. Traditional values shall be protected, otherwise, humanity is doomed," Russia said in a tweet on Tuesday.
Adding: "Not parent 1 and parent 2, but family! Not rules, but law!"
That is only the beginning, the West will come for more.
Traditional values shall be protected, otherwise humanity is doomed.
Not parent 1 and parent 2, but family! Not rules, but law! https://t.co/siGRX7DKvi— Russian Embassy in Kenya/Посольство России в Кении (@russembkenya) March 2, 2023
Ruto's tough stance
Yesterday, President Ruto said Kenya has values that must be respected.
Speaking during International Women’s Day celebrations at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Ruto maintained that Kenya is a deeply religious nation and same-sex unions "will not happen under my watch".
“I cannot allow our women to get competition from men who chase after men. That will not happen under my watch,” the President stated.
He went on: “We have our cultures and traditions; we respect our Constitution and all our religions. We cannot travel the road of women marrying women, or men marrying men. That won’t happen in Kenya.”
Ruto challenged religious leaders to take a firm stand in the fight against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) agenda, which is being propagated on various platforms.
The Supreme Court last Friday said that the decision to deny gay members their right to register non-governmental organisations (NGOs), despite homosexuality being illegal in the nation, was discriminatory. This followed a ruling made in 2013 by lower courts that outlawed registration of LGBTQ groups in Kenya.
Ruto said that although he respects court decisions, he was opposed to same-sex relationships.
“You know me very well. I am a God-fearing man and whatever happened at the court, even if we respect the court, our culture, values, Christianity and Islam cannot allow women to marry each other, or men to marry fellow men,” he said.
“I want to ask our religious leaders to stand firm and educate our children, our people, so that we don’t lose our beliefs and way of life to foreign practices,” the President added.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, on the other hand, expressed shock at the ruling that granted LGBTQ proponents the right to form an association to advance their interests.
“I was shocked and even wondered what I could say. Do you know there are times you can be shocked until you have nothing to say? We are hearing that there is an organisation that wants to defend same-sex marriage. What is that?" he posed.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga also separately condemned the ruling, saying the Judiciary was overstepping its mandate.
“We condemn in very strong terms and totally reject the ruling by the Supreme Court on the alleged rights of the LGBTQ community, which ruling amounts to usurpation of the role of Parliament to make laws that are consistent with the ideals, culture and traditions of our people. Consequently, we call upon our houses of Parliament to seize this matter and stop this invasion and erosion of our ways of life by traditions that are strange and unacceptable to us,” Raila said.
“We have three arms of government, Parliament, Executive and Judiciary. Parliament is supposed to make laws, among other duties, the Executive is to offer services according to the laws, and the Judiciary is supposed to interpret the laws. They (Judiciary) cannot make new laws."
