Kenyan President praised for anti-gay stance
Church leaders in the country have praised President Uhuru Kenyatta for rebuking President Obama during a press briefing held in Kenya over the weekend.
Obama told Kenyatta during the press conference that gay people must be treated equally under the law – or else “bad things” will happen – pleading with his Kenyan counterpart to readdress his country’s current legislation on LGBT rights.
“If you look at the history of countries around the world, when you start treating differently because they’re different, that’s the path whereby freedoms begin to erode and bad things happen,” he said.
However, President Kenyatta responded: “The fact of the matter is that Kenya and the United States share so many values… but there are some things that we must admit we don’t share.
“It’s very difficult for us to be able to impose on people that what they do not accept. For Kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue.”
And it seems many of church leaders agree with him – Bishop Rev Joseph Ntombura said the church were “very, very happy” with the way President Uhuru responded to the “gay issue” during the conference.
Rev. Ntombura said the move by President Uhuru was an assurance that he “understands and respects the culture and religions of Kenyans”, report Standard Media.
The bishop said homosexuality was “against Kenyan culture and the Holy Bible”, adding that as a church they were not ready to be “engaged in any talks regarding gay and lesbianism rights”.
The head of the National Independent Church of Africa, Bishop Stephen Karunyu, said that the “courage by President Uhuru to respond to the gay matter in front of President Obama should be emulated by many who do not support such orientations.”
He also urged all Kenyans to support Kenyatta’s stance.
Anti-gay protesters have made repeated attempts to discourage the President to from promoting gay rights during his visit to the country, taking to social media and the streets of Nairobi in an attempt to dissuade any discussion on the matter.
A Kenyan political group had also planned to protest the President’s upcoming visit by asking 5,000 people to march naked through the streets – however, the march was cancelled after the Kenyan security forces intervened.
