Kenya: Court rejects Rastafari bid for religious freedom marijuana exemption
Kenya's small Rastafarian community was seeking legal permission to smoke marijuana under the constitutional right to freedom of religion. The judge found they did not
Kenya's small Rastafarian community was seeking legal permission to smoke marijuana under the constitutional right to freedom of religion. The judge found they did not show it to be a necessary part of their worship. A Kenyan court on Wednesday refused to grant Rastafarians the right to smoke marijuana on religious grounds, after members of the minority religious sought an exemption from the country's draconian narcotics laws rooted in British colonial rule. Rastafarians, who often use cannabis as part of what they term religious meditation, had been pushing the Kenyan courts to grant them permission to use the herb since 2021. They argued it should be protected under their constitutional rights to freedom of religion. What did the court decide? The Kenyan High Court in Nairobi ruled that the community had failed to demonstrate during the hearing that marijuana was a necessary part of their religious practice, and so did not grant them the right to bypass the country's drug laws. While all witnesses "agreed that cannabis is used as a sacrament, they could not agree on whether its use is essential or merely preferred," Judge Bahati Mwamuye said.
The community's lawyer, Shadrack Wambui said they planned to appeal the decision. Following the ruling, Rastafarians gathered at Nairobi’s Freedom Corner, some of them smoking in protest Image: Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo/picture alliance What did the judge say about wider questions of cannabis laws? Despite ruling against the specific case on Wednesday, Judge Mwamuye said that Kenya should hold a wider national debate on its drug policy. "This is not just a question for the Rastafari community but one that cuts across society," he said. "It is beyond dispute that the use of cannabis in this country has become ubiquitous and has arguably been so for many decades," the judge added, even quoting from Peter Tosh's seminal reggae song, "Legalize It", including the lyrics: "judges smoke it, even lawyers do." Kenya has strict narcotics laws, many of which can ultimately trace their roots back to legislation from colonial power the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. Possessing and smoking marijuana is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 (well over 6 months' wages for an average earner, based on GDP per capita figures), imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.
Crimes related to trafficking or cultivating the plant can face even more severe penalties. Mwamuye said the "status quo appears untenable," and argued there should be "a full and frank conversation on cannabis and which direction we should take." Although the Abrahamic religion formed in Jamaica in the 1930s, it always laid great emphasis on African roots and East Africa in particular Image: Gerald Anderson/Anadolu/picture alliance What does Rastafarianism have to do with Kenya? Rastafarianism formed in Jamaica in the 1930s, and is deemed by most to be based on an interpretation of the Christian Bible. It had a strong affiliation with resistance to colonial culture and British rule and was heavily influenced by Ethiopianism and the Back-to-Africa movement. Its veneration of former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, either as a prophet or a second coming of a Messiah, gave the movement particular ties to east Africa. Its tradition of wearing dreadlocks also resonates in parts of Kenya, given that many Mau Mau — Kenyan independence fighters opposing British colonial rule in the 1950s and 60s — also wore them.
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