Saturday, July 25, 2015

Gay and Lesbian debate....The suffocating elephant in the room - Obama second address to the nation Kenya

The thorn in the flesh and the inevitable gay and lesbian conversation finally reared its head in the joint press conference held between President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Barrack Obama.

Barrack Obama chose albeit uncomfortably, to stick to his guns and be consistent. He elaborated, by example that everyone must be treated equally within the law. His Kenyan counterpart was in catch 22 situation and had to be politically correct. Uhuru Kenyatta played it safe by dismissing the debate as inconsequential saying that there were far much urgent issues to be addressed such as health, and the uplifting of the general welfare of the Kenyan citizens.

One can argue that Uhuru Kenyatta actually concurred with Barrack Obama's sentiments in the sense that both said that the rights of the minority must be upheld within the law.Both agreed that family values in an African society are a delicate matter and Obama knows this very well due to the fact that he hosted for dinner  3 dozen of his family members at the Villa rosa Kempinksi hotel in the leafy surburbs of Westlands Nairobi. In short the problem of terror has been brought about by segregation even though it will take an academic study to prove that infringing on gay rights in Africa may breed a radical upprising similar to Al-Qaeda, Al Shaabab and ISIS.

On corruption, he stated the obvious that corruption is a vampire and a major pedestal to Kenya's progress.He gave examples of his home state of Chicago that was previously held hostage by corrupt mafia gangs and police on the take of the 1940's(Al Capone and ilk) but also acknowledged that President Uhuru is trying to slay the monster noting that Kenyans as a whole need to collectively fight the scourge.

On Obama's legacy and his policy on Africa, it is quite obvious that the man Barrack Obama is trying.. more so with his GES and power Africa, empowering women, the use of fertilizers among other initiatives. President Kenyatta concurred.

Obama announced major restrictions on ivory trade in the United States.He hinted of a total ban.This was very welcome announcement but the United Nations in New york or Geneva should announce a worldwide ban not only for ivory trade but also for game hunting/culling of any species on earth that has a population of less than 500,000. Kenya, Africa and world should also start demarcating wildlife zone for timelines of 999years and no sort of human settlement should be allowed for atleast 5 kilometers off the park boundaries, and no human settlement or activity will be allowed on any migratory routes for huge mammals.


Back to the gay debate, every Kenyan who has undergone university education must have encountered the "Harm Principle" or the "Principle of liberty" by John Stuart Mills as part of the curriculum. It is not a secret that there exists a gay society in Kenya. We might not recognize their rights at the moment but for sure this conversation is not ending anytime soon and indeed i can predict in this blog that it might feature in a constitutional debate in a not so far future. Don't get me wrong, i don't support gay relationships but i endevour to be factual on issues.

In the long and short of it, Obama has shown respect, he has shown wisdom and serious thought process so far. I'm now hungry and anxious for his inspirational and bare knuckles address to the nation tomorrow.

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