to accepting Christianity .
The monogamous union was however between a man and a woman as ordained by God from the garden of Eden and nowhere did they teach or advocate for same sex unions as a unit of society .
This Christian moral position was given legal authority by the British code of law that was adopted in the country that criminalized gay practices . Both the moral and legal positions did not contradict the African culture .
On attaining independence , the country adopted the legal practice of the departed colonist and there has never been any compelling reason to particularly relook at the moral or legal position on gay practices as it aligns with the culture .
More than a century down the line Kenya finds herself in a very interesting position as the people that bequeathed us with both the moral and legal position with regard to a subject that was always taboo are asking Kenya to put it on the public agenda .
It would have helped if there was documented cases of widespread persecution and discrimination of a sizable community of gays to create a backdrop to the reason that this topic should enter the Kenyan public discourse .
What makes this conversation particularly irritating in Africa is that the aggressive promotion of the rainbow community rights seems to supersede the black people rights which is an infinitely more pernicious and pervasive human rights abuse .
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Criminalizing and shaming polygamy did not get rid of polygamous unions in Africa they just found a way round it . Legalizing and promoting gay rights will not make it acceptable to Africans , they will find ways to discourage it .
The Christian revisionists are reminding us , through the pronouncement of the head of the Catholic church that ‘ gayism ’ is a sin not a crime , which in effect actually agrees with the African cultural practice . Africans do not discuss sins in public , sin is taboo .
For the former colonist to threaten that in future he will withhold aid or other forms of bilateral and international assistance based on the type of legislation in place to support the rainbow community is actually a double insult .
The first is that he is the one who has backpeddled on a position he imposed on Africa as part of a general racial abuse he has neither apologized for nor made reparations . The second is that independence means Africa gets to decide not re-imposed upon .
The African is confused by The Rainbow Agenda , its origins , and what the end game is given that the continent has infinitely more pressing issues to tackle than wasting time discussing the sexual preferences of people in society which in any case is a private matter .
On a critical note , political and genderbased abuses which are prevalent in many African countries should be at the top of national discourse rather than cornering African leaders on a topic that is culturally embarrassing to even discuss .
The local churches are up in arms against an imposition of a doctrine that is against the bible teaching and African culture and a schism is imminent with the African church declaring it will not condone or support any position that undermines the faith .
The politicians are up in arms because they are being asked to legalize a position that is anathema to the African . No right-thinking politician would introduce or support a bill that flies contrary to African customs and practices .
Ochieng is not clear how the case even got a hearing at The Supreme Court but of more interest is how long it took the Kenyan top leadership to denounce the ruling . It only came after a general hue and cry from the church and the public .
Ochieng is concerned that a matter that flew quietly under the radar in the Kenyan society has been forced into public view and the rainbow community may actually start to face discrimination from those who didn ’ t care or were not even aware about it before . The saying that ‘ if it isn ’ t broke , don ’ t fix it ’ comes readily to mind since this is a case of creating a problem where there was none . The former President who stated that LBTGQ was a non-issue in Kenya was spot on .
The last word on this issue may be that even though the color black will never be a color on the rainbow , that does not mean the rainbow is not a rainbow . Society does not have to agree on everything for it to be a society .
Ochieng would like to see a greater appreciation and sensibility to the diversity that is the human race which is what has allowed it to flourish and any time a group tries to impose its preferences and practices on others , a disharmony is immediately created .
Criminalizing and shaming polygamy did not get rid of polygamous unions in Africa they just found a way round it . Legalizing and promoting gay rights will not make it acceptable to Africans , they will find ways to discourage it .
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