After the release of Rafiki in 2018, The Kenyan Film Classification Board banned the film because of its portrayal of same-sex love and romance. Rafiki which means “friend” in Kiswahili tells the story of romance that grows between two young women, Kena and Ziki, amidst family and political pressures around LGBT rights in Kenya.
Although In September 2018, a court temporarily lifted the ban on Rafiki to allow the screening of the film in Kenya so it could qualify to compete at the Oscars, it was only for seven days, and the ban continued.
Wanuri Kahiu, who is the producer of Rafiki appealed against the ban arguing it was against freedom of expression which is enshrined in Kenya’s constitution. But the constitutional court stayed the ban, saying there was no violation of freedom of expression, OpenlyNews reports.
Wanuri tweeted, “We went against popular opinion and said no to homosexual content. We were labelled as homophobic and ostracized locally and internationally,” he wrote on Twitter. But we stood for family values and what we believe to be in the best interest of Kenya. Family is the basic unit of society.”
On Wednesday, April 29th, however, a Kenyan court still refused to lift the ban on the movie, and Wanuri, it’s producer insists that the ruling will still be appealed.
“We are disappointed, of course,” Kahiu told Openly News, about the refusal to lift the ban. “But I strongly believe in the constitution and we are not going to give up. “I think it is very important for us to define what freedom of expression means in Kenya as per our constitution. We are going to appeal. The ruling today is not a true reflection of what the constitution says.”
