The Supreme Court ruled that the NGO Coordination Board violated Eric Gitari’s right to free association by refusing to register his NGO on the basis of his homosexual orientation.
In the case, Gitari had gone to court to challenge the board’s decision not to register their LGBTQ rights group.
The appeal board was dismissed by a majority of the five judges, who ruled that the board’s decision was discriminatory.
“It would be illegal to limit the freedom to associate by denying registration of an organization solely on the basis of the applicants’ sexual orientation,” the court said.
According to the court, all individuals, whether heterosexual, lesbian, gay, intersex, or otherwise, will face punishment if they violate current laws, notably Sections 162, 163, and 165 of the penal code.
The court further stated that the term “sex” does not relate to the act of sex per se, but rather to the sexual orientation of any gender, whether heterosexual, lesbian, gay, or intersex.
In his dissenting opinion, Judge William Ouko stated that the issue at hand was not the decriminalization of LGBTQ.
He stated that the board has the authority to reject to register any organization if it does not fulfill certain legal requirements.
He claims it has nothing to do with morality, same-sex marriage, or family units, but rather with the NGO board’s failure to reserve the names submitted for registration.
