Kenyan Prime Minister Odinga: "All Gays Should Be Arrested"

Disturbing news from Kenya, where Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for the mass arrests of gays and lesbians at a political rally on Sunday, reports the Daily Nation.

"Addressing a rally at Kamukunji grounds in his Langata Constituency, the PM said their behaviour was unnatural. 'If found the homosexuals should be arrested and taken to relevant authorities,' Mr Odinga said. The PM thrilled the crowd when he asserted that the recent census showed there were more women than men and there was no need for same sex relationships. He said it was 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."

David Kuria from the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, Kenya's largest gay rights organization, called Odinga's comments "surprising," given the fact that the prime minister is currently enjoying a wave of popularity. "We thought in this country we had made a lot of headway," he told the BBC. Another official with GALCK tells the Associated Press there is "panic among its members", especially those who are HIV-positive. "The office [has] received calls from concerned members, some of whom are HIV-positive and fear they will be arrested when they collect life-prolonging medicine from government clinics, board member Nguru Karugu said."

Until very recently, Kenya's government was considered moderate on gay rights. But there has been a backlash against calls to decriminalize homosexuality in the East African nation, such as one cabinet minister's recent proposal to scrap the nation's sodomy laws.

At the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna last July, African and Kenyan HIV/AIDS activists credited Nairobi for some advances and were cautiously optimistic. "Kenya was the first African nation to include MSM in their national HIV strategy," Nairobi-based peer educator Job Akuno told R20,  Black AIDS Weekly and MSNBC in Vienna.  "That was in 2006. But ... it seems like we are rolling back on some of the gains that we made."

Some Background ...
AIDS 2010: Joel Nana on African Gay/Bi Men, HIV
WATCH: CNN Surveys Gay Rights in SA, Kenya, Cuba
Kenyan Gays Demand Protection After Brutal Assault
Kenya: "Things are Changing in Favor of Gays"
Homosexuality is Un-African?

Comments

[fred]

What a crying shame. Whats champion is that a good 80% of comments relating to this in Kenya's biggest daily,( http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/-/1064/1062134/-/78xndg/-/index.html ) are encouraging and supportive, a step away from the usual vitriol that meets African LGBTI discussions.
Also here's a great dissection of the fool's speech:

http://gukira.wordpress.com/2010/11/28/raila-re-defines-kenyan-ness/

[Mel Smith]

We need to start a "boycott all homophobic nations" campaign.

[Reggieh]

And very sad news from "The Motherland". What can we on this side of the Diaspora do to help our LGBTQ family members across Africa?