Kenyan President-elect William Ruto. (Screen capture via Citizen TV Kenya YouTube)
The president-elect of Kenya last week told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that LGBTQ and intersex rights are “not a big issue” in his country.
“We don’t want to create a mountain out of a molehill,” William Ruto told Amanpour during a Sept. 7 interview. “This is not a big issue for the people of Kenya. When it becomes a big issue for the people of Kenya, the people of Kenya will make a choice.”
Ruto spoke with Amanpour days after the Kenyan Supreme Court declared him the winner of the country’s Aug. 9 presidential election. Ruto’s inauguration will take place in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Sept. 14.
The Children Act 2022, a law that granted equal rights and recognition to intersex people in Kenya, took effect in July. Consensual same-sex sexual relations nevertheless remain criminalized in the former British colony.
Amanpour noted to Ruto that outgoing President Uhuru Kenyatta previously said there is “no room for homosexuality in Kenyan society.”
Ruto said his predecessor “was spot on.” Ruto also noted youth unemployment and hunger are his top priorities.
“That is my concern. That is the focus of the people of Kenya at the moment,” said Ruto. “When the issue you have discussed about homosexuality and the rights of LGBT (people) will come, the people of Kenya will make a choice and we will respect the choice of the people of Kenya. For now, Christiane Amanpour, let us focus on the real issues that affect our people.”
Gay sex is illegal in Kenya and President-elect @WilliamsRuto previously said “we have no room for gays.” Ruto tells me “we respect everybody,” but adds “this is not a big issue for the people of Kenya” and President Kenyatta was “spot on” to say homosexuality “is not agreeable.” pic.twitter.com/qLN3Ss0p2G
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) September 7, 2022
