Court Allows Registration Of National Gay And Lesbian Human Rights Commission

Court of Appeal affirmed the right of LGBTQ people to freely associate.by allowing National Gay and lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) could freely registers an Non Governmental organization (NGO).

The bone of contention was whether the NGO board should be compelled to register an organization whose objective is to promote and protect the rights of LGBT Kenyans.

The court of Appeal erred the judgement by the High Court stating that it had no jurisdiction to handle the matter therefore the judgement that was made was null and void. The court stated that right to associate was not limited to the grounds of sexuality.

The court of Appeal ruled that  there was no connection between activities prohibited in section 162 and 165 of the penal code and the request to register an NGO fighting for gay rights. The sections do not criminalize homosexual identity but only certain acts.

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Justice Mahanya dismissed the appeal stating that Penal code does not criminalize LGBT people but instead prohibits certain acts which any Kenyan who breaks that law would have to be held accountable for! There is nothing unlawful or criminal about forming an organization to advocate for the human rights of LGBT people.

The high court had allowed the registration of the civil society organisation in 2015 but the NGO board moved to the court of appeal to appeal the decision of the High court. They had applied fr registration in 2013.

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