I did not know anything about Father Renato Sesana, alias Father Kizito, before last week. That’s before Kenya’s media officially re-introduced him to the people. Not for leading his “sheep” but rather for misleading young supposedly innocent males. Father Kizito is being accused of sodomizing underage boys. Investigations are under way.
At surface, I must say Father Kizito’s professional and humanitarian resume is very impressive. He graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering at the age of 21. Later he joins and graduates from a school theology; he is ordained a Catholic priest at 27. He leaves his country Italy to study English in the United States but returns to Italy to study political science. Between his degrees he works as an engineer, editor and travels.
Father Kizito officially sets his foot on Africa in 1977 where he serves a rural parish in Zambia and later moves to slum area in Capital Lusaka. He later, in 1988, transfers to Nairobi Kenya where he starts a lay community he calls Koinonia. Koinonia objectives include and focus on helping youth especially from marginalized societies, for instance street children. Father Kizito also, in these years, writes widely and wildly on a wide range of issues in different parts of the continent. We all, at least those of us who could access newspapers in 1995 through 2001, remember “Father Kizito’s Notebook” in the Sunday Nation. A number of people have read his books and his blog. I am told he founded Radio Waumini, which he now consults with! He is an inspiration, by any definition.
But after years of impressive work, here are now allegations of sexual misconduct—and grossly inappropriate sexual misconduct for that matter. One, he is a Catholic father euphemism for no sex at all; two, kids are involved I am not to sure whether to call it/them pedophilic act(s); three, there are several kids hence several acts—maybe I should call it primitive polygamy; four, worst of all, the kids are male—call it sodomy or homosexual.
Again they are just allegations. He has not, till now, been charged with any of the above nor has he been arrested. But whether he will be found guilty or innocent doesn’t bother me as such. But definitely it is here that I find perfect to start my straight talk on an issue most of our parents would not want to talk us about at a dinner table. (You don’t talk about sex with a Kenyan parent, not at a dinner table.) But it is not just any kind of sexuality here, I am going to talk about homosexuality in Kenya.
Maybe before proceeding I would like to make a few things clear—very clear.
1) I am not gay, and I will never wish to be one.
2) I do not speak on behalf of gays.
3) I am a firm believer in individual liberty and dignity and as such I would tolerate and respect other people’s sexual orientation up to and till they affect my own liberties and dignity.
A friend of mine (a credible source indeed) informs me that homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, according to Sections 162 to 165 of the Penal Code. The code criminalizes homosexual behavior and attempted homosexual behavior between men. It calls such acts "carnal knowledge against the order of nature." Those found guilty of the act face 5 to 14 years imprisonment.
Now that is very lenient or very harsh depending on the lens through which you look at it. But let’s face it. Do acts of homosexuality exist in Kenya? Of course yes. Maybe one Thomas Cholmondeley can give an objective view of what goes on in our prisons. Or we might all need to watch The Shawshank Redemption and apply it to a Kenyan context. Look at our schools, how many students that we know have been suspended or expelled for ‘sexually harassing’ other students of same sex. I was at Starehe Boys—a template for a disciplined school—yet there are characters who were publicly known to have affection towards other boys. I had to deal with some of the cases in my capacity as the school captain. Of course we all remember Upper Hill School in Nairobi where boys forcefully sodomized another student in 2006.
These cases are many but the way they are being handled makes me worry. We pretend nothing is happening when a lot is happening. Reason? We fear confronting issues that confront our societies especially those that threaten or deviate from the conventional moral code. The moral code dictates that homosexuality is ‘a carnal knowledge against the order of nature.’ Period. We won’t talk about it. I beg to differ here. I am among those who believe that we begin to die the moment we become silent about things that matter. Any issue that affects a people is an issue that matters and hence we should NOT be quiet about it.
I don’t think I have a moral authority to declare or even suggest that homosexuality is right or wrong. Not one person can. The society transcribes the moral code and develops requisite framework to safeguard the code. But where the codes are malfunctioning, Individuals have a responsibility, through their observations, education and beyond, to politely agitate them and thus trigger public reasoning and public discourse about them again. The objective being to bring about a revised and evolved conclusion based on objective understanding of the matter in question.
Opponents of homosexuality in Kenya base their arguments on different cores. They are those who point to the bible. They say God reduced Sodom and Comora to ashes because of rampant homosexuality. Former president Moi simply put it that “words like lesbianism and homosexuality do not exist in African languages.” In Zimbabwe, Mugabe once said of homosexual that "What an abomination, a rottenness of culture, real decadence of culture. [Homosexuals are] repugnant to my human conscience… immoral and repulsive… Lower than pigs and dogs… Animals in the jungle are better than these people because at least they know that this is a man or a woman... I don't believe they have any rights at all."
These arguments are compelling enough even though there are more of statements than arguments. They exude characteristics of genetic fallacy or fallacy of relevance where we don’t assess a claim on its merit but rather suggest conclusion based on our, maybe conventional, origins. Ie Homosexuality is wrong because the bible says so or our ancestors said so or our parents taught us so.
I don’t relegate their approach but just that mine is different. And I offer it here. Before I rebuke or put up with one’s actions, there is one question I ask myself: Does he/she have control over his actions? Where the answer is ‘yes’, and the action rebukable, I will not hesitate to let him know, especially if I am in position to. But where the answer is ‘no’, I find a reason to think of toleration. On this ground, I find it despicable to be mean towards people because of their physical appearance, level of intelligence, personality etc. One does not choose to be smart or not. One does not choose to be ugly or not. One does not choose to have a stinking personality or not. Those are moral arbitraries (a Rawlsian term).
The same applies to homosexuality. Does one choose to be gay? Or is it in the genes? I know there are controversies here. That’s why I said before that I will hesitate to absolutely accept homosexuality as right or wrong, as of now. There is a school of thinkers who argue that homosexuality is genetic, natural, beyond ones control. They are those who argue or think one chooses to be gay. They are those in the grey area who claim that it is all about how one is raised i.e. natural but not so natural. There are even those scientists, I read in the New York Times, who claim that homosexuality is genetic but the gene can be switched on and off using a particular drug. Who is right? I don’t know! Nobody knows.
I personally don’t see why a man, in his right senses, would elect to go to bed with another man. Normally I would consider such an act uncouth, disgusting etc. But since men do so, I think there is more to it than just mere voluntary choice. That is why I think Kenya has to openly and unequivocally welcome this reasoning and discourse into both micro and macro societies. At the same time the medical and scientific world should actively pursue the truth behind homosexuality. If it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that one does not choose to be gay, let all the gay marriages be legal. If it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it is a matter of choice and unnatural, let all homosexuals face life imprisonment. But since for now we do not know, let’s welcome discussions. And maybe let us ask ourselves why in Kenya homosexuals (eg Father Kizito if he is found to be one) risk being lynched while in America homosexuals are being invited to the White House to mark a celebration.
At surface, I must say Father Kizito’s professional and humanitarian resume is very impressive. He graduates with a degree in mechanical engineering at the age of 21. Later he joins and graduates from a school theology; he is ordained a Catholic priest at 27. He leaves his country Italy to study English in the United States but returns to Italy to study political science. Between his degrees he works as an engineer, editor and travels.
Father Kizito officially sets his foot on Africa in 1977 where he serves a rural parish in Zambia and later moves to slum area in Capital Lusaka. He later, in 1988, transfers to Nairobi Kenya where he starts a lay community he calls Koinonia. Koinonia objectives include and focus on helping youth especially from marginalized societies, for instance street children. Father Kizito also, in these years, writes widely and wildly on a wide range of issues in different parts of the continent. We all, at least those of us who could access newspapers in 1995 through 2001, remember “Father Kizito’s Notebook” in the Sunday Nation. A number of people have read his books and his blog. I am told he founded Radio Waumini, which he now consults with! He is an inspiration, by any definition.
But after years of impressive work, here are now allegations of sexual misconduct—and grossly inappropriate sexual misconduct for that matter. One, he is a Catholic father euphemism for no sex at all; two, kids are involved I am not to sure whether to call it/them pedophilic act(s); three, there are several kids hence several acts—maybe I should call it primitive polygamy; four, worst of all, the kids are male—call it sodomy or homosexual.
Again they are just allegations. He has not, till now, been charged with any of the above nor has he been arrested. But whether he will be found guilty or innocent doesn’t bother me as such. But definitely it is here that I find perfect to start my straight talk on an issue most of our parents would not want to talk us about at a dinner table. (You don’t talk about sex with a Kenyan parent, not at a dinner table.) But it is not just any kind of sexuality here, I am going to talk about homosexuality in Kenya.
Maybe before proceeding I would like to make a few things clear—very clear.
1) I am not gay, and I will never wish to be one.
2) I do not speak on behalf of gays.
3) I am a firm believer in individual liberty and dignity and as such I would tolerate and respect other people’s sexual orientation up to and till they affect my own liberties and dignity.
A friend of mine (a credible source indeed) informs me that homosexuality is illegal in Kenya, according to Sections 162 to 165 of the Penal Code. The code criminalizes homosexual behavior and attempted homosexual behavior between men. It calls such acts "carnal knowledge against the order of nature." Those found guilty of the act face 5 to 14 years imprisonment.
Now that is very lenient or very harsh depending on the lens through which you look at it. But let’s face it. Do acts of homosexuality exist in Kenya? Of course yes. Maybe one Thomas Cholmondeley can give an objective view of what goes on in our prisons. Or we might all need to watch The Shawshank Redemption and apply it to a Kenyan context. Look at our schools, how many students that we know have been suspended or expelled for ‘sexually harassing’ other students of same sex. I was at Starehe Boys—a template for a disciplined school—yet there are characters who were publicly known to have affection towards other boys. I had to deal with some of the cases in my capacity as the school captain. Of course we all remember Upper Hill School in Nairobi where boys forcefully sodomized another student in 2006.
These cases are many but the way they are being handled makes me worry. We pretend nothing is happening when a lot is happening. Reason? We fear confronting issues that confront our societies especially those that threaten or deviate from the conventional moral code. The moral code dictates that homosexuality is ‘a carnal knowledge against the order of nature.’ Period. We won’t talk about it. I beg to differ here. I am among those who believe that we begin to die the moment we become silent about things that matter. Any issue that affects a people is an issue that matters and hence we should NOT be quiet about it.
I don’t think I have a moral authority to declare or even suggest that homosexuality is right or wrong. Not one person can. The society transcribes the moral code and develops requisite framework to safeguard the code. But where the codes are malfunctioning, Individuals have a responsibility, through their observations, education and beyond, to politely agitate them and thus trigger public reasoning and public discourse about them again. The objective being to bring about a revised and evolved conclusion based on objective understanding of the matter in question.
Opponents of homosexuality in Kenya base their arguments on different cores. They are those who point to the bible. They say God reduced Sodom and Comora to ashes because of rampant homosexuality. Former president Moi simply put it that “words like lesbianism and homosexuality do not exist in African languages.” In Zimbabwe, Mugabe once said of homosexual that "What an abomination, a rottenness of culture, real decadence of culture. [Homosexuals are] repugnant to my human conscience… immoral and repulsive… Lower than pigs and dogs… Animals in the jungle are better than these people because at least they know that this is a man or a woman... I don't believe they have any rights at all."
These arguments are compelling enough even though there are more of statements than arguments. They exude characteristics of genetic fallacy or fallacy of relevance where we don’t assess a claim on its merit but rather suggest conclusion based on our, maybe conventional, origins. Ie Homosexuality is wrong because the bible says so or our ancestors said so or our parents taught us so.
I don’t relegate their approach but just that mine is different. And I offer it here. Before I rebuke or put up with one’s actions, there is one question I ask myself: Does he/she have control over his actions? Where the answer is ‘yes’, and the action rebukable, I will not hesitate to let him know, especially if I am in position to. But where the answer is ‘no’, I find a reason to think of toleration. On this ground, I find it despicable to be mean towards people because of their physical appearance, level of intelligence, personality etc. One does not choose to be smart or not. One does not choose to be ugly or not. One does not choose to have a stinking personality or not. Those are moral arbitraries (a Rawlsian term).
The same applies to homosexuality. Does one choose to be gay? Or is it in the genes? I know there are controversies here. That’s why I said before that I will hesitate to absolutely accept homosexuality as right or wrong, as of now. There is a school of thinkers who argue that homosexuality is genetic, natural, beyond ones control. They are those who argue or think one chooses to be gay. They are those in the grey area who claim that it is all about how one is raised i.e. natural but not so natural. There are even those scientists, I read in the New York Times, who claim that homosexuality is genetic but the gene can be switched on and off using a particular drug. Who is right? I don’t know! Nobody knows.
I personally don’t see why a man, in his right senses, would elect to go to bed with another man. Normally I would consider such an act uncouth, disgusting etc. But since men do so, I think there is more to it than just mere voluntary choice. That is why I think Kenya has to openly and unequivocally welcome this reasoning and discourse into both micro and macro societies. At the same time the medical and scientific world should actively pursue the truth behind homosexuality. If it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that one does not choose to be gay, let all the gay marriages be legal. If it is proven beyond any reasonable doubt that it is a matter of choice and unnatural, let all homosexuals face life imprisonment. But since for now we do not know, let’s welcome discussions. And maybe let us ask ourselves why in Kenya homosexuals (eg Father Kizito if he is found to be one) risk being lynched while in America homosexuals are being invited to the White House to mark a celebration.
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