On November 9, 2019, some clerics led by the Chairman of Kenya Catholic Church Bishops, Phillip Anyolo, expressed displeasure over the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD25) summit arguing it promotes immorality.
“We reject the introduction of ideologies centred on gender and other alien practices that go against our African culture and our religious heritage,” Archbishop Anyolo said at a press conference.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on the same said joined in and said Kenya would not allow lessons that are against African culture.
The summit is co-hosted by Kenya and Denmark in conjunction with UNFP.
“Next week, we have visitors here who will discuss varied topics. We shall agree on issues of fighting gender-based violence and FGM, but if they bring issues against our African culture then we shall not agree with them,” Uhuru said at State House, Nairobi.
On Sunday, Deputy President William Ruto said the government will not allow the introduction of practices that contradict the teachings of the Bible.
Referring to the ICPD25, Ruto said Kenya was a God-fearing nation that followed the doctrines of the Bible.
“We would stand firm as leaders to oppose any teachings and issues that go against our stand as Christians,” he said at the Covenant Church International Enkongu Enkare in Naroosura, Narok county.
So what is the controversy?
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the ICPD in Cairo, where 179 governments adopted a landmark Programme of Action which set out to “empower women and girls for their sake, and for the benefit of their families, communities and nations”.
ICPD Programme of Action widely noted the need to control population growth, — family planning — to ease pressure on the environment and reduce poverty.
“Implementation of effective population policies in the context of sustainable development, including reproductive health and family-planning programmes, require new forms of participation by various actors at all levels in the policy-making process,” it said.
One of the agreed actions was, “Eliminating all practices that discriminate against women; assisting women to establish and realize their rights, including those that relate to reproductive and sexual health.”
Further, the plan of action was to “enable and support responsible voluntary decisions about child-bearing and methods of family planning of their choice, as well as other methods of their choice for regulation of fertility which are not against the law and to have the information, education and means to do so”.
In January this year, Kisumu Archbishop Zacchaeus Okoth described the use of contraceptives as against the will of God and urged Christians to shun it.
“God is the one who gives us children. He is the one who controls family planning and should be left to do that,” Okoth, who has been on the forefront against contraceptives, said.
Further, the issue of gay rights has triggered the reaction by the clerics, the presidency and some lobby groups.
The ICPD programme delves into issues such as upholding the rights of minority groups, including LGBT.
“Marginalized groups, including minority ethnic groups, young people, unmarried people, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, people with disabilities, and the rural and urban poor continue to face barriers in accessing quality care. UHC provides a renewed opportunity to uphold their rights,” the programme notes.
Also some of the participants such as Marie Stopes International (which procures abortion), Centre for Reproductive Rights, FIGO, the Guttmacher Institute and Right Here Right Now are known to propagate agenda that is not pro-life organisations.
“Sexual Health” as defined by UN agencies encompasses abortion, CSE, legalised prostitution, same-sex marriage, transgender hormone treatment and surgeries, and much more.
Article 26(4) of the Kenyan Constitution says, “Abortion is not permitted unless, in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger, or if permitted by any other written law.”
The Standard also reported the faith community had been largely locked out of the conference – in an apparent deliberate effort to keep out potential dissenters.
“Several church delegates that had attempted to register were not successful. What irked the clergy, even more, was the fact that the organisers came to the meeting with a draft statement that was to be merely signed by the faith community and issued at a press statement endorsing the conference. The clergy refused to sign the document or to participate in a press release,” the standard said.
When President Kenya made his address during the summit, he kept of the controversial issues and instead re-commited to ending harmful sexual and reproductive health and rights practices such as FGM by 2022, as he had said on Friday.
