Police in Kakamega County have arrested two youthful men accused of engaging in homosexuality.
Gilbert Wanyeso, a resident of Angwete Village in Kakamega Town, and his male partner were caught in bed by neighbours on Friday morning (August 21).
Nyumbi Kumi Initiative elder, Reuben Otiende, said that they had suspected Wanyeso alias Gili, was a homosexual after he recently “committed the crime with a neighbour’s son”.
On Friday morning, when a non-native male person entered Wanyeso’s house, the neighbours suspected that the visitor could be “one of Wanyeso’s many gay lovers”.
Several minutes later, the residents broke down Wanyeso’s door and found him and his partner, identified as Caleb Andani, a Lugari native, engaging in homosexual activity.
The irate residents began beating up the two, forcing police to intervene.
The duo was whisked into a police van and driven to Kakamega Police Station, where they are being held in lawful custody.
Wanyeso, neighbours say, is a divorcee who kicked his wife, Grace Khavetsa, out of their matrimonial home last year. The former couple is blessed with three children.
“He (Wanyeso) broke up with his wife so that he could freely engage in homosexual acts,” alleged a neighbour.
“We are urging the landlord of the house rented by this man (Wanyeso) to send him packing. We cannot tolerate homosexuality in this area. These are the men who will spoil our children,” said another resident.
Another local, an elderly woman, said: “Women were created by God to provide men with companionship, not men for men. This young man, who is like my son, has embarrassed the community. He was married, but divorced his wife so that he could get into homosexual relationships. That is wrong.”
The angry locals snatched Wanyeso’s phone and went through his gallery, where they allegedly found pictures of Wanyeso in bed with his lover, Andani.
Kakamega Central OCPD David Kabena told K24 Digital that the suspects will be arraigned once investigations are concluded.
Homosexuality in Kenya: What the law says
Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya.
The High Court in Nairobi on May 24, 2019 upheld a law banning gay sex, keeping same sex relations punishable by 14 years in jail.
Same-sex relationships are a crime in more than 70 countries around the world, almost half of them in Africa. Neighbouring Uganda once enacted a law imposing a life sentence for certain acts of gay sex although it was later nullified by court.
South Africa is the only African nation to have legalised gay marriage.
“We hereby decline the relief sought and dismiss the combined petition,” Justice Roselyn Aburili told a packed courtroom in Nairobi, relaying the unanimous opinion of the three-judge panel.
“We find that the impugned sections are not unconstitutional, accordingly the combined petitions have no merit.”
Some gay rights activists wept outside the courtroom after the verdict while supporters of the ban clapped, congratulated each other and yelled “thank you” at the judges’ bench.
Other people backing the ban held placards outside the court with messages, including “homosexuality is an abomination.”
Campaigners who filed the petition to decriminalise gay sex argued that the law violated Kenya’s 2010 Constitution, which guarantees equality, dignity and privacy for all citizens.
“We will appeal. We expect that the court of appeal will overturn this erroneous decision which in our view is very biased,” said Eric Gitari, one of the petitioners.
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