ngilu alarmed by homosexual cases

By Mathias Ringa And Mathias Ringa (The East African Standard)

April 5, 2006: Health minister Charity Ngilu yesterday said she would table the issue of homosexuality among Coastal youths before the Cabinet.

Ngilu termed the situation serious, adding that the matter must be handled at the Cabinet level.

Speaking in Mombasa during a leaders meeting, Ngilu said she was shocked by revelations that homosexuality among teenagers was rampant in Coastal towns.

"I did not know that homosexuality and sodomy were rampant among our youths in the Coast. This is a very sad thing. I will table the matter before the Cabinet so that we can find ways of ending this shameful menace," she said.

"What does the future hold for our children if some of them indulge in homosexuality and sodomy?" she asked.
She said homosexuality was illegal in Kenya.

"We cannot allow sex between man and man. Men should have sexual relationships with women only," she said.

She urged the provincial administration to crack down on tycoons who, she said, lured youths into homosexuality. Coast General Hospital chief administrator, Dr Khadija Shikelly, said schoolgirls engaged in anal sex to avoid getting pregnant.

"There is need for parents to educate their children on the dangers of this vice," she said.

National Heritage minister, Suleiman Shakombo, said some girls engaged in the vice to preserve their virginity.
"This is due to some traditions that teach girls that they must be virgins when they get married," he said.

Elsewhere, Reproductive Health organisation's deputy director, Dr Josephine Kibaru, has decried the rise in cases of HIV/Aids among youths.

Kibaru said studies by the Health ministry had shown that children aged between 14 and 15 were sexually active. She made the remarks at the Coast Provincial Commissioner's office during a meeting, which focused on adolescents.