Kenya: Government spokesman says ‘homosexuality as serious as terrorism’
Kenya’s parliamentary majority leader has claimed that homosexuality is as serious a threat as terrorism.
Aden Duale, who represents President Kenyatta’s coalition, said: “We need to go on and address this issue the way we want to address terrorism.
“It’s as serious as terrorism. It’s as serious as any other social evil.”
He was responding to calls from Kenyan MPs for tougher ‘Uganda-style’ anti-gay laws, despite pre-existing laws criminalising homosexuality in the country.
According to Reuters, Kenya has been the subject of repeated attacks from Islamic militant groups in recent months, after it intervened in neighbouring Somalia.
On Sunday, at least four people were killed in a terrorism-related shooting, after gunmen stormed a Mombasa church.
Despite the comparison, Duale said there was no need for tougher laws beyond the recent change.
He said: “We do not need to go the Uganda way, we have the constitution and the penal code to deal with homosexuality, and so this debate is finished, we will not be enacting any new tougher law.”
He also said that 595 cases of homosexuality had been investigated by the police since 2010.
