Supreme Court dismisses anti-LGBTQ appeal

By Peter Ochieng

Homabay Town Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Opondo Kaluma on Tuesday suffered a blow after the Supreme Court dismissed his anti-LGBTQ suit.

The lawyer turned politician had contested decisions by the High Court and Court of Appeal, allowing registration of LGBTQ lobby groups under the NGOs Act.

Kaluma accused the courts of what he termed as opening a flood gate for the promotion of a pro-gay and lesbian agenda in the country.

However, Supreme Court judges dismissed the petition stating that he was not part of the court process from the beginning.

“Section 21A of the Supreme Court Act provides for the circumstances pursuant to which this Court may review its own decision on an application filed by “a party”," ruled the judges.

“The applicant has not demonstrated to our satisfaction that the impugned Judgment was obtained by fraud or deceit, is a nullity, or that the court was misled into giving its judgment under a mistaken belief that the parties had consented thereto.”

The five judge Supreme Court bench was led by Deputy Chief Justice, Philomena Mbete Mwilu.

“This Court has neither jurisdiction to sit on appeal nor to review its decisions other than in the manner provided for by Section 21A of the Supreme Court Act,” they ruled.

The ruling now means the NGO coordination council has seemingly been compelled to register a LGBTQ lobby groups.

NGO Council's initial refusal to register the group is the genesis of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court cases, with rulings being made in favour of the LGBTQ community.