ALLEGED PM ORDER FOR ARREST OF GAYS:

REPUBLIC OF KENYA

OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER

ALLEGED PM ORDER FOR ARREST OF GAYS:

A story that appeared early today in Capital FM’s online edition and later picked by the Daily Nation late Sunday evening to the effect that Prime Minister Raila Odinga ordered arrest of gay couples was incorrect and widely missed the core message of the Prime Minister’s remarks earlier that day.

The Prime Minister made references to gay marriages in the context of what he called “lies, propaganda and fear-mongering” that opponents of the then draft constitution engaged in during the referendum campaigns.

The PM said one of the lies was that the draft legalized same sex marriages. The other was that it would force the government to build abortion wards in all hospitals because it legalized abortion.

The Prime Minister went ahead to explain that time has proved these were lies. In regard to gay marriages, the PM added a rider that even if it had been legal, Kenyans were likely to continue the established trend of marrying the opposite sex. After all, he said, census data released early this year indicated there were more women than men and there would be little reason for Kenyans to turn to same sex marriages. This rider is what the media picked and twisted to imply order of arrest. Prime Minister Odinga made no such orders and has no intentions of making any such orders.

DENNIS ONYANGO;

COMMUNICATION SECRETARY,

OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER;

29.11.2010.