Video: Gay rights not important, Uhuru tells Amanpour

President Uhuru Kenyatta has defended the Kenyan law that illegalises lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender practices saying that the matter is not of national importance.

Speaking during an exclusive interview on CNN’s Amanpour Show, the President said that the country is bound by societal and cultural norms and the LGBT issue is of no major importance.

“This is not about Uhuru Kenyatta saying Yes or No: it is an issue that Kenyans have clearly stated they they will not engage in at this time,” he said.

While pressing on the need to have the LBGT rights and freedoms observed, Amanpour sought to clarify on the laws that protect them in Kenya, to which the President said:

“No Kenyan should be abused or mistreated in anyway. Every single Kenyan is protected by the law but they should know that their freedoms must also be taken into the context of the society they live in.”

Uhuru was adamant his statement on the LBGT community was not personal but a representation of 49 million Kenyans.

““It is not human rights issue as you would want to put it but one of society; our own culture as a people irregardless of which community you come from. It is not a question of the government accepting or not accepting,” he told Amanpour.

President Kenyatta further alluded to a possibility of changing current societal and cultural norms but was categorical that such a move is dependent on the Kenyan people.

“In years to come, possibly long after I am president, who knows? Maybe our society will have reached a stage where those are issues are freely and openly discussed,” he said during the interview on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).