Kenya: Supreme Court to decide if Wanuri Kahiu's "Rafiki" can finally be released, eight years after ban

Eight years after its release, the film "Rafiki" by Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu is still waiting to be screened normally in its home country. The Supreme Court of Kenya has examined the case and is expected to rule soon, RFI reported on October 15, 2026. Two questions face the judges: does depicting homosexuality on screen amount to promoting it, and is homosexuality truly prohibited under Kenyan law?

The feature film, which tells the love story of two young women in Nairobi, was banned from distribution by the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) on the grounds that it offended public morality. In 2018, a court decision temporarily lifted the ban for just one week, during which the film broke box office records, recalls the website Sénégal24News. At the same time, "Rafiki" was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and selected to represent Kenya at the Oscars.

A penal code article inherited from colonial rule

Before the Supreme Court, which was petitioned by the KFCB according to RFI, the board's lawyer, Andrew Mwango, argued that allowing such films to circulate could lead to the promotion of more serious crimes. The director's lawyer, Githu Muigai, countered that Article 162 of the penal code, which punishes "carnal knowledge against the order of nature" with up to fourteen years in prison, is extremely vague and anachronistic, inherited from the colonial era, whereas freedom of expression is guaranteed by the Kenyan Constitution. "Showing a robbery in a film does not mean advocating for it," he summarized.

The legal nuance matters: Kenyan law does not criminalize an orientation as such, as prosecutions target specific acts, RFI noted.

What the ruling will mean for creative freedom

Beyond the fate of a single film, the creative freedom of African filmmakers is at stake. Can an administrative body pull a work from theaters in the name of morality when the Constitution protects freedom of expression? The Supreme Court's ruling will set a precedent for a whole generation of directors across the continent, who often shoot with foreign funding but primarily seek an audience at home.

Meanwhile, the legislative environment is tightening: a family code bill introduced in August before the National Assembly would reportedly introduce the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality," according to RFI. The date of the Supreme Court's decision has not yet been announced.