Countdown draws closer to Friday when a much-awaited ruling by Kenya’s High Court could make history.
There is a quiet air of excitement at the offices of the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), as the countdown draws closer to Friday when a much-awaited ruling by Kenya’s High Court could make history.
The charity has fought hundreds of cases of abuse against sexual minorities in Kenya’s courts, but the verdict on whether to scrap British colonial-era laws criminalizing gay sex is undoubtedly their most eagerly anticipated case.
“We are excited and cautiously optimistic - but optimistic nonetheless,” Lelei Cheruto from NGLHRC, one of the groups petitioning the court to decriminalize gay sex, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“A positive ruling will mean sexual minorities in Kenya will have the freedom to exist. It will be a step toward their inclusion in society. We feel we have a very solid case.”
Homosexuality is taboo in the country and persecution of sexual minorities is rife.
Under sections of Kenya’s penal code, gay sex - or “carnal knowledge against the order of nature” - is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
Campaigners say the laws have long promoted homophobia in the largely conservative Christian country - and are used daily to persecute and discriminate against sexual minorities.
They face prejudice in getting jobs, renting housing or seeking medical care or education.
Hate crimes like blackmail, extortion, physical and sexual assault are common - but most are too fearful to go to the police due to their sexual orientation, say rights groups.
A positive judgment would not only give rights and dignity to sexual minorities in Kenya, say campaigners, but will inject impetus into battles being waged by persecuted LGBT+ people Africa wide.
“People across the continent are watching the Kenyan case very closely,” said Anthony Oluoch from Pan Africa ILGA, a global charity advocating for the rights of sexual minorities.
“There are laws in many African countries that criminalise same-sex relationships, so if we get a positive ruling in Kenya it will give hope to the continent.”
#Loveishuman
Same-sex relationships are a crime in more than 70 countries around the world, almost half of them in Africa. South Africa is the only African nation to have legalized gay marriage.
The law against gay sex in Kenya - sections 162 and 165 - was introduced during British rule more than 120 years ago.
In 2010, Kenya adopted its new constitution, which provides for equality, human dignity and freedom from discrimination.
Petitioners now want the sections of the law repealed, saying they violate constitutional rights.
The Kenyan government, backed by powerful Christian groups, however is opposed to scrapping the ban on gay sex, have argued during court hearings last year that it will lead to same-sex marriage.
A three-judge bench of the High Court is expected to give its verdict on February 22. Both sides can appeal against the ruling in higher courts.
Since the date of the ruling was announced in October, LGBT+ activists across the world have been counting down the days on social media with hash tags such as #WeAreAllKenyans, #LoveIsHuman and #Repeal162.
“This judgment has real potential to change the lived experience of hundreds of thousands of people in Kenya,” said Tea Braun, director of the UK-based campaign group, the Human Dignity Trust.
“A positive verdict will declare that LGBT+ people are not criminals. It will be a reckoning for society where Kenya will show the world that it upholds the principals of freedom, liberty and justice.”
Campaigners say their optimism is justified - pointing to recent progressive rulings by courts as well as governments across the world supporting the rights of LGBT+ people - which they believe Kenya’s judges will consider.
In September, for example, India’s Supreme Court threw out similar colonial-era legislation in a landmark ruling in the world’s largest democracy.
Legal tolerance
More than half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa have anti-homosexuality laws, although others have moved towards legal tolerance, watchdogs say.
Twenty-eight out of 49 countries have laws penalising same-sex relationships, according to Neela Ghoshal, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) specialist in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.
The death penalty is on the books, under sharia, in Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria, although there have been no known executions in recent times.
In southern Somalia, gay men are believed to have been put to death in territory ruled by the Al Shabaab jihadist group.
However, Angola, Mozambique and Seychelles have scrapped anti-gay laws in recent years.
On the other hand, Chad and Uganda have introduced or toughened legislation.
Rights groups the colonial area rules represent a peril even in countries where they are not implemented, according to campaigners, as their existence on the statute books entrenches stigma and encourages harassment, they say.
Following is a snapshot of the legal situation in Africa:
Tanzania: A conviction for having "carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature" can lead to 30 years' jail or more. Political rhetoric against homosexuality has increased since President John Magufuli was elected in 2015.
Foreign gay rights activists have been expelled and last October, the governor of Dar es Salaam, the country's economic capital, threatened to arrest homosexuals.
Zambia: Homosexuality is widely reviled and same-sex relationships can draw sentences of between a year and 14 years' jail. Earlier this month, TV regulators ordered a new locally-produced reality show, "Lusaka Hustle," to be taken off the air on the grounds that it promoted a gay lifestyle.
Gays and Africa: Quotes
Here is a selection of quotes illustrating the situation of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in sub-Saharan Africa: