Chiloba death: It's wrong for anyone to accuse Kenyans of homophobia

LGBQT rights are the "new flavour of the month" because of the copious amounts of donor funding they attract. [iStockphoto]

In fact, many have come out of the closet over their sexual orientation without attracting any criminal sanction. A newspaper report quotes music producer and singer Savara Mudigi saying, "music group Sauti Sol wasn't affected in the slightest when its member Willis Chimano openly came out as gay".

It is not lost on Kenyans that the global North has consistently put pressure on the government to address "the LGBTQ question." There have been attempts to coerce the country into drinking the Kool Aid of licentious living with gay abandon (pun intended).

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta rightly called it a "non-issue". President William Ruto has been resolute on the matter saying, "we have Kenyan law, we have Kenyan Constitution, we have our traditions, customs; we will continue to respect other people's customs as they respect our customs and traditions."

A line is drawn when a cultural practice becomes inimical to the well-being of an individual. Like is the case of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) which is illegal in Kenya. Or the immolation of old women on accusations of witchcraft.

Chiloba's death is regrettable. Indeed, any murder is reprehensible. That his death has become the centre-piece of efforts aimed at arm-twisting the country to acquiesce to behaviour alien to its conventions is simply beyond the pale. Not when one considers that there are far greater existential threats that hardly get mentioned in the international press. Like sections of the country currently facing starvation as a result of drought.

LGBQT rights are the "new flavour of the month" because of the copious amounts of donor funding they attract. There is a certain tone-deafness towards the FGM crisis and more worthy problems because they do not capture the imagination of the decadent West. Kenyans are now tired of tendentious homophobic labels. They have better things to do rebuilding a battered economy than preoccupation with matters repugnant to their mores and ethos.

-Mr Khafafa is a Public Policy Analyst