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Kenya’s First Openly Gay Politician Forms Party

By George Barasa

Kuria Mbote
Kuria Mbote

Kenya’s first openly gay politician fondly referred to as Senator David Kuria Mbote has officially made a comeback to the politics game.

Mbote better known for being a co-founder of the Kenya Gay and Lesbian Coalition, which he headed for ten years made his mark in the country as the first openly gay politician when he vied for the Kiambu county senate seat.

In 2012, he withdrew from the contest citing lack of security and inadequate funding for his campaign, a move which was described by Ugandan LGBTI activist Frank Mugisha as “disheartening”

After three years behind the scenes and with very minimal public appearances, Mbote is now back with a new project -The Equality Party Of Kenya.

The Party is at infancy stage and still undergoing the registration process. Speaking to Kuchu Times, Mbote said they still need about 24000 founding members from at least 25 counties. He also appealed to those interested in joining the party to submit their applications of interest through allpeoplesparty@outlook.com

While making the official announcement through his Kuria Foundation blog, Mbote said, “To address the challenges we face in the new-Kenya we need to provide opportunity for each and every Kenyan – every single one of us to live up to the fullest of their potential. The ‘scarcity mentality’ has led us to believe that we need to elbow out people from other tribes or religion or gender from positions of service and it needs to change. This will be brought about by an electoral system that assures equality for all. This is what our party stands for.”

Mbote is a graduate with Degrees in Theology and Philosophy. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and another in Finance from University of Nairobi.

He is also a nominee and recipient to a multiple and numerous National awards and accolades.