Kenyan Prime Minister calls for arrest of gays

Raila Odinga

 Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has ordered the arrest of gay couples in the country.

Addressing a rally in the capital Nairobi on Sunday, the prime minister termed their behaviour "unnatural".

“If found the homosexuals should be arrested and taken to relevant authorities,” Mr Odinga said.

The premier thrilled the crowd in a largely conservative country when he asserted that the country's recent census showed there were more women than men and there was no need for same sex relationships.

He termed it "madness" for a man to fall in love with another man while there were "plenty of women" and added that there was no need for women to engage in lesbianism "yet they can bear children".

Mr Odinga’s statements are likely to rub Kenyan activists the wrong way, who have recently been emboldened to go public to campaign against widespread homophobia.

The remarks also come months after the country's special programmes minister Esther Murugi attracted the wrath of Kenyans by calling for recognition and acceptance of gays, a topic almost anathema in the conservative country of 40 million.

On Sunday, Mr Odinga accused the ‘No’ team [that opposed the passage of Kenya's new constitution] of misleading Kenyans during the campaigns that the new constitution recognises same sex relationships.

Source: Africa Review