Edwin Chiloba, a 25-year-old LGBT rights activist in Kenya, fashion designer, and model, was found dead on January 3 in Kenya’s Rift Valley area.
According to police, he had been strangled and his body stuffed in a metal trunk, which was then discarded by the side of the road. An autopsy later revealed that he died of asphyxiation caused by suffocation. Five people have been arrested in connection with his murder, including a freelance photographer who is believed to have been in a romantic relationship with Chiloba and is accused of killing him. Hundreds attended Chiloba’s funeral yesterday in Sergoit village in western Kenya to pay their respect.
Despite the fact that Kenya’s criminal code includes a colonial-era law that criminalizes homosexual acts, Chiloba’s murder is not being treated as a hate crime. This tragic event has brought to the surface the issue of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Kenya, which is a predominantly Christian and conservative society where homosexuality is taboo and punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This murder also follows the unsolved murders of several other LGBTQ rights defenders in the recent past.
LGBT rights in Kenya
LGBT rights are not fully protected in Kenya. Same-sex sexual relations are considered illegal under Kenyan law and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison. This is based on a colonial-era law that criminalizes “carnal knowledge against the order of nature”, which is interpreted to include homosexuality. In 2019, the Kenyan Supreme Court rejected a petition to annul this section of the law, stating that it was not discriminatory because it did not single out LGBTQ people. However, opponents of the law argue that it fosters widespread homophobic violence and mistreatment. While the situation is not favourable for the LGBTQ community in Kenya, a growing number of activists and organizations are fighting for their rights and visibility in the country.
The murder of Edwin Chiloba is another tragic reminder of the violence and discrimination faced by LGBT individuals in Kenya. It is a tragic and premature death for the community, and it brings back traumatic memories of previous hate crimes. In recent years, there have been several similar murders, such as the April 2022 murder of Sheila Lumumba, a 25-year-old non-binary lesbian, and the murder of Rose Mbesa, an intersex person, a few weeks later. In 2021, Erica Chandra, a transgender woman, and Joash Mosoti, a gay man, were also found murdered in separate incidents in Nairobi and Mombasa respectively.
Image Credit: Edwin Chiloba/Facebook/Reuters
