The Legio Maria Church has castigated Chief Justice Martha Koome for proposing a law it says is detrimental to the future generation.
Koome has proposed a bill suggesting that those involved in prostitution will no longer face jail terms.
In a statement, Legio Maria said it strongly opposed the “retrogressive” proposed changes saying it could completely destroy societal general code of conduct.
“If these draconian new amendments become law, it could pave way for further changes including legalisation of hard drugs and reduction in the consensual sex age from 18 to 16 or even to 14. This can be highly disastrous to our school-going children,” Bishop Wycliffe Nyaperah said.
The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2023 presented by the National Council on the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) through the National Committee on Criminal Justice Reforms (NCCJR) seeks to have the deletion of sections 153, 154 and 155 by amending the Principal Act also known as Section 4 of the Penal Code.
NCAJ Chair Chief Koome and her NCCJR counterpart appellate court judge Grace Ngenye submitted the draft Bill for consideration to the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula during a meeting on October 19, 2023.
In the statement, Nyaperah said Koome should be condemned for making such amendments.
“I strongly believe that the Chief Justice is only doing this for the public illusion to aid her to remain relevant and please a few people whose main objective is to trample on the rights of the majority,” he said.
He warned that prostitutes will no longer be hiding when doing “immoral shameful acts” but will have the freedom to conduct their business anywhere and anytime even in broad daylight.
“Biblically sex is sacred. It is only permissible for a married couple and should not be conducted as a business or work that can enable one to earn a living,” he explained.
He said the composition of the Supreme should also have men and women of high moral ethos and of an impeccable religious background.
“As promoting and granting rights of association to LGBTQ wasn’t enough, the Kenyan Chief Justice Martha Koome is now rooting for prostitution to be decriminalised in Kenya,” Nyaperah lamented.
Even so, the Atheists in Kenya Society has praised the Chief Justice for her proposal.
The society said decriminalization would help bring sex workers out of the dangerous margins and into the light where people are protected — not targeted — by the law.