Kenya Bans LGBTQ+ Documentary for ‘Promoting Same-sex Marriage’

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Discriminatory’ banning of I Am Samuel, about a gay man’s struggles with his sexuality, criticised by activists and producers

Samuel and Alex in a scene from I Am Samuel. Activists say the ban reflects Kenya’s ‘intolerant and intrusive religious and cultural beliefs’. Photograph: Peter Murimi/Reuters
Activists and film producers have criticised a decision by the Kenya Film Classification Board to ban a documentary that tells the story of a Kenyan man struggling with his sexuality.

They said banning the 52-minute film, I Am Samuel, amounted to “discrimination and persecution” of LGBTQ+ people.

The film – which was shot over five years and took two years to edit – follows the life of a young man tormented by his sexuality while growing up in rural Kenya, who finds acceptance after moving to the capital, Nairobi.

“The ongoing criminalisation of LGBTQ+ persons in Kenya is a sad trend bordering on discrimination and persecution of individuals perceived to have a minority orientation. The move is dictated by very intolerant and intrusive religious and cultural beliefs,” said Kamau Ngugi, the executive director of Defenders Coalition, an umbrella group of rights organisations and activists.

The film classification body said last week that the film “blatantly” violated the country’s laws that penalise all forms of homosexuality or same-sex marriage, and that the storyline was a “clear and deliberate attempt by the producer to promote same-sex marriage as an acceptable way of life”. » | Peter Muiruri in Nairobi | Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Never Before Seen Video: Obama Whines About White Privilege

Never before seen video provided exclusively to Infowars shows President Barack Obama complaining about white privilege during a 1990 trip to Kenya.

Kenya: The Perfect Holiday Destination for European Paedophiles

Child Prostitution (2009): Kenya’'s stunning beaches attract thousands of tourists each year but this tropical paradise hides a harrowing secret: children as young as 6 are having to risk their lives and sell sex in order to survive.

Obama's Roots Lie In A Humble Kenyan Village

Obama's Village 2008: Meeting Obama's family members and characters that have served to shape Barak's early life. They live in a village in Kenya

Meet Obama's Kenyan Family

Obama Performs Traditional Lipala Dance During Kenyan State Dinner

US president Barack Obama joins in the Lipala during a dinner at Nairobi's State House. The Lipala is a traditional dance which was updated by popular Kenyan band Sauti Sol earlier this year, becoming a dancehall hit. The band posted the footage online after playing the track as the entire top table including Obama, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta, first lady Margaret Kenyatta and US national security adviser Susan Rice danced

Barack Obama: I'm Proud to Be the First Kenyan-American President

Barack Obama told crowds gathered in Nairobi he was proud to be the first Kenyan-American president

Read the Telegraph article here | Telegraph Video, and AFP, video source ITN | Sunday, July 26, 2015

Barack Obama Tells African States to Abandon Anti-gay Discrimination

THE GUARDIAN: Visiting his father’s Kenyan homeland, US president says ‘bad things happen’ when governments get into habit of treating people differently

The US president, Barack Obama, has launched an unprecedented defence of gay rights in Africa, telling Kenya’s president that the state has no right to punish people because of “who they love”.

Obama, visiting his late father’s homeland for the first time as US president, confronted Uhuru Kenyatta and millions of Kenyans watching on television with his “unequivocal” views. Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and surveys show nine in 10 people find them unacceptable.

Obama personalised the issue by comparing homophobia to racial discrimination that he had encountered in the United States. Never before has such a powerful foreign leader challenged Africans so directly on their own soil. » | David Smith in Nairobi | Saturday, July 25, 2015

Obama's Visit Sparks Debate on Gay Rights in Kenya, Africa

One particular issue has been gripping many Kenyans in recent days. Just what is Barack Obama going to say about gay rights? As in much of Africa, homosexuality is widely frowned upon in Kenya. Some MPs have warned the American president to avoid the matter. But Obama's reportedly said, he will indeed be raising the issue when he's here. CCTV's Kathryn Ogunde has more…

Press Conference in Kenya: Obama and Kenyatta on State of Gay Rights in Kenya (July 25, 2015)

Al Shabaab Executes 28 Non-Muslims on Kenyan Bus

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: - The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab said it had staged an attack in Kenya on Saturday in which gunmen ordered non-Muslims off a bus and shot 28 dead, while sparing Muslim passengers.

Three of the group led out to be killed saved their lives by reciting verses of the Koran for the militants, a local security official said.

Al Shabaab said its men had ambushed the Nairobi-bound bus outside the town of Mandera, near Kenya’s border with Somalia and Ethiopia, and killed the non-Muslims in retaliation for raids on mosques in the city of Mombasa. » | George Obulutsa | Nairobi | Reuters | Saturday, November 22, 2014

Kenya al-Shabaab Attack 'Was Led by White Man Speaking Fluent British English'

60 people were killed in Sunday night's attack on the
small coastal town of Mpeketoni

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: White man speaking 'fluent British English' led al-Shabaab attack in Kenya that left 60 dead, witnesses claim

A white man speaking "fluent British English" led suspected al-Shabaab commandos who ransacked towns in northern Kenya leaving 60 people dead, witnesses have said.

Several people in Mpeketoni, which was attacked by as many as 40 Islamist gunmen on Sunday, told The Telegraph that the gang's leader was pale-skinned and spoke English and Arabic.

One of the witnesses is a primary schoolteacher who speaks good English, unlike many people in the remote corner of Kenya near the Lamu archipelago that earlier this week became the country's latest terror target.

The accounts strengthened suggestions that the attackers were part of a well-trained team sent by al-Shabaab under the co-ordination of an experienced foreign jihadi now working with the Somali Islamists.

"I saw a white man who was speaking in fluent British English commanding the rest of the attackers," said Mary Gachoki, who lives in Mpeketoni. » | Mike Pflanz, Lamu | Wednesday, June 18, 2014

'Islamists' Attack Kenyan Coastal Town

BBC: Suspected Islamist militants have attacked hotels and a police station in the Kenyan coastal town of Mpeketoni, military officials say.

Witnesses reported seeing buildings on fire and hearing gunfire in the town, which is near Lamu island.

It is not yet clear if there are any casualties.

Kenya has suffered a number of militant attacks since 2011 when its forces entered neighbouring Somalia to combat al-Shabab fighters. » | Sunday, June 15, 2014

The Stream: Marriage in Kenya: A Man's World?

Kenyan parliament passes a bill that legalises polygamy without a wife’s consent.

Kenyan 'Cutter' Says Female Genital Mutilation Is Her Livelihood

THE GUARDIAN: Margaret, who has put more girls through FGM than she can remember, says cutters ask her how they will eat if they stop

There can be few women who understand both the agonies and the economics of female genital mutilation better than Margaret, a grandmother in her 70s from Pokot, northern Kenya.

Her life has spanned the clumsy colonial efforts to ban the practice, which saw it become a cultural cornerstone of the Mau Mau uprising against British rule, right through to independent Kenya's decision to re[-]impose the prohibition.

She has also put more girls than she can remember under the knife. When Margaret started, the tool of choice was a curved nail; more recently this has been replaced with imported razor blades.

The work, she concedes, is gruelling: frightened young girls would typically sit naked on a rock; once done, their excised clitorises would be thrown to the birds. For the cutters, or "koko mekong", who can earn 2,500 Kenyan shillings (£18) for each girl, it is a livelihood.

"The cutters ask me: 'If we leave doing this thing, what will we eat?'" Margaret says. "Tell the government to give us what to eat. If it's just workshops then it will be no use. The circumcisers will not leave their career simply because they're being told to leave it."

The "cut" has been outlawed in Kenya since 2001. Despite this, a public health survey in 2009 found that 27% of women had been subject to FGM. Among some ethnic groups – such as the Somalis (98%) and Masai (73%) – that figure is much higher. » | Daniel Howden in Baringo County | Friday, February 07, 2014

What Did Westgate Mean to Kenyans?

Nigeria Attack: Students Shot Dead As They Slept

BBC: Suspected Islamist gunmen have attacked a college in north-eastern Nigeria, killing up to 50 students.

The students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitory at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state.

North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency amid an Islamist insurgency by the Boko Haram group.

Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow Nigeria's government to create an Islamic state, and has launched a number of attacks on schools. » | Sunday, September 29, 2013

'Pray for the Kenya Terrorists': Archbishop of Canterbury Faces Controversy after Urging People Not to Forget the 'Captors' in Their Prayers

MAIL ONLINE: Justin Welby reveals he has prayed for both the gunmen and victims / Archbishop says what he has done is in line with Jesus's teachings / Ten Britons now feared to be among the victims of attack in Nairobi

The Archbishop of Canterbury today urged Christians around the world to pray for the terrorists who brutally killed at least 67 in Nairobi.

Justin Welby told worshippers not to forget 'the captors' in their prayers, so they can see that violence 'won't have the last word'.

He revealed that he himself had prayed for both the gunmen and the victims, and said that to do so was in line with Jesus Christ's teachings. Read on and comment » | Daniel Martin | Thursday, September 26, 2013

Prise d’otages à Nairobi: Le Kenya entame trois jours de deuil

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: A la recherche de cadavres et d'éventuels explosifs, les secours fouillaient mercredi les décombres du Westgate de Nairobi. Ceci au premier jour du deuil national décrété après l'attaque meurtrière du centre commercial.

Secouristes et soldats portaient masques et foulards pour se protéger de l'odeur pestilentielle qui s'échappe désormais du centre commercial Westgate.

L'assaut lancé samedi, revendiqué par les insurgés islamistes somaliens shebab, a coûté la vie à au moins 61 civils, six membres des forces de sécurité kényanes et cinq assaillants, et fait environ 175 blessés. Un deuil national de trois jours a été décrété à partir de ce mercredi, et les drapeaux aux couleurs du pays ont été mis en berne dans toute la capitale.

Il s'agit d'ores et déjà de l'opération la plus meurtrière à Nairobi depuis l'attentat-suicide d'Al-Qaïda en août 1998 contre l'ambassade des Etats-Unis, qui avait fait plus de 200 morts. Et le bilan devrait encore s'alourdir : une partie du centre commercial s'est effondrée et désormais 71 personnes, selon la Croix-Rouge, sont portées disparues. » | ats/afp/Newsnet | mercredi 25 septembre 2013

Kenya Government Says All Hostages Freed

Kenyan special forces say there are no more hostages as they have seized control of most of Westgate mall on the fourth day of fighting.