NAIROBI, Feb 23 (NNN-KBC) — The High Court has postponed ruling on decriminalising gay sex in Kenya.
Justice Chacha Mwita informed a packed court room that the three judge bench constituted to hear the case needed more time to prepare for the ruling.
The decision by the High Court to delay the landmark ruling until May 24 comes amid concerns by a section of lawyers that there have been efforts to influence the ruling of the court.
The courtroom in Nairobi highly anticipated the ruling by the three judge bench on whether to quash section 162 and 165 of the penal code that proscribe consensual homosexuality in Kenya or not.
However, after hours of waiting, Justice Mwita said the verdict is not ready since the trio have been engaged in other judicial mattes and required more time to draft the ruling.
“Administrative challenges and full dockets have made them unable to decide. We are still planning when to regroup,” the judge said.
The parties in the case will have to wait until May 24 when the judges say they will decide on whether to scrap the law which criminalises homosexuality.
In the petition filed in 2016 a group argues that the state should not regulate matters of intimacy or sexual orientation but the state through the Attorney General alongside religious organisations argue that such matters should be guided by the country’s values.
Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya with sections 162 and 165 of the penal code stating that anyone who engages in carnal knowledge against the orders of nature can be imprisoned for 14 years. — NNN-KBC
