Kaluma bill seeks death sentence for homosexuals
Homosexuals will face the death sentence upon conviction if MPs pass a radical new bill currently before the National Assembly.
The Family Protection Draft Bill 2023 currently being considered by the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) decrees that men found guilty of homosexual activities will be liable to a death sentence.
Persons who groom, recruit or traffic children for purposes of engaging in homosexuality will face life imprisonment, the bill further proposes.
The draft law, sponsored by Homa Bay Town MP Peter Kaluma proposes that a person who recruits, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a child for purpose of engaging the child in homosexuality is liable to life imprisonment.
Those who display, distribute or supply, to a child, any material, demonstrating, depicting or illustrating a sexual act between persons of the same sex or any other conduct is liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding twenty years, Kaluma further proposes.
“In the case of an offence, the offender shall upon conviction be liable to imprisonment for not less than twenty years where the victim did not consent or where the purported consent was obtained by force or by any means of threats, coercion or intimidation, or by fear of bodily harm, or by means of false representations as to the nature of the act,” adds the bill.
The draft law which now awaits publication states that an individual who engages in a sexual act with a person of the same sex or those who permit a male person to perform a sexual act on them commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years.
The bill proposes prohibition of homosexuality, same sex marriage, unnatural sexual acts and related activities as well as seeks to proscribe activities that seek to advance, advocate, promote or fund homosexuality. “The objects of the bill is to preserve and protect the cultural and family values of the Kenyan people against emerging threats; and, to uphold Article 44 of the Constitution which provides that “a person shall not compel another person to perform, observe or undergo any cultural practice and rite.”
Sexual partners
The proposed bill also seeks to void any purported marriage or other form of union that took place between persons or sexual partners of the same sex. It also seeks to prohibit sexual acts on an animal with those convicted of such crimes being liable to a term of not less than ten years. “A certificate issued by a foreign authority of a purported marriage or other form of union between persons or sexual partners of the same sex is unenforceable in Kenya,” reads the bill in part.
The move comes at a time when MPs have told the government to ban the publication and distribution of information that promotes same sex relations.
While debating the motion by Nyali MP Mohammed Ali that seek to ban Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) communities, the MPs raised concerns that should same sex marriages be encouraged in Kenya, then there is fear that humans in the country will be extinct
The bill which seeks to define “sex” as the biological state of being male or female as physically observed and assigned at birth, or as medically determined and assigned by the time the person reaches puberty, but excludes sexual orientation and gender identity, also seeks to prohibit comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and education and comprehensive sexuality education.
According to the proposed law, the Cabinet Secretary responsible for basic education and the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development shall ensure that the basic education curriculum shall not adopt, incorporate, implement or teach comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and education (CSRHE) including sexual health, reproductive health, reproductive rights and universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services;
Parents, the bill adds, will have the prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. “The State shall ensure that technical and professional education is made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, to promote understanding, tolerance, peace and friendship among all communities, racial or religious groups.”
The bill also prohibits aggravated homosexuality in the case of children, persons with disability, a person with mental illness, a person who is an older member of the society under Article 57 of the Constitution.
Individuals who engage in such sexual acts with a person of the same sex commits the offence of aggravated homosexuality and shall on conviction be sentenced to death.
The proposed Bill also proposes a fine of not less than Sh1 million, a jail term of not less than 10 years or both if they are found guilty of promoting homosexuality, or encourage others to perform sexual act that constitutes an offence. The terms also apply for those who participate in an activity that is intended to indoctrinate a change of perception or public opinion towards the act.
Prohibited activities
On funding of such activities, the bill notes that a person who funds, sponsors or donates toward an activity prohibited under the said Act, commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term of not less than ten years or to a fine not less than Sh10 million shillings, or both.
“Where a body corporate, including a partnership, is charged with an offence under this section and the body corporate is convicted, the company and each officer of the company or partnership are each liable to a fine not less than ten million shillings. Where an unincorporated body of persons is convicted under this section, the principal officers of the body of persons, whatever name called, shall be deemed to have also committed the offence and are each liable to a fine not less than ten million shillings,” reads the Bill.
