Saturday, October 21, 2023 – An LGBTQI+ advocacy group, Initiative for Equality and Non-Discrimination (INEND), has launched a guidebook to sensitize the Kenyan judiciary on LGBTQ rights and how to promote, protect and implement them.
INEND in conjunction with the Kenya Judges and Magistrates Association (KMJA) unveiled the book titled, ‘A Legal Resource Guide on Implementing LGBTIQ+ Human Rights in Kenya’ on October 14, calling on the Judiciary to use it as a legal resource.
KMJA Public Secretary and High Court Judge Edward Muriithi said the book will promote inclusion reducing discrimination against the minority group.
“By allowing the systems of justice to ensure that we all grow and flourish each other in our different ways, the launch of the bench book is an eye-opener,” Muriithi said during the book’s launch.
“Let there be no unconstitutional discrimination since Article 20 (3) of the constitution mandates the court to develop the law on the rights with an interdict.”
“We should not fear to look beyond the horizon of our limited traditional orthodoxy in legal provisions and training. We must engage in continuous critical thinking even on difficult subjects of ethics of life,” he noted.
High Court Judge Justice Mumbua Teresia Matheka, affirmed that the book will help her and other judicial officers who struggle with what she terms “our moral judgments” by serving as reference material in handling LGBTQI+ cases.
The bench book details several court cases and rulings in favor of LGBTQ petitioners from across Africa and abroad.
The idea is for Kenyan judges to adopt these rulings when handling similar LGBTQI+ cases.
The book comes at a time when the judiciary has faced criticism for allowing the registration of an NGO, the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), that advocates for LGBTQI+ rights.
As a result, Homabay MP Peter Kaluma moved to the Supreme Court seeking to challenge that ruling.
However, his case was thrown out with the Supreme Court noting that homosexuals have the right not to be discriminated against directly or indirectly.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
