President William Ruto has spoken on the Supreme Court’s controversial ruling that denying the LGBTQ community the right to register as a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) was discriminatory despite homosexuality being illegal in the country.

Ruto was speaking on Thursday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), Nairobi, during the re-launch of the Women Enterprise Fund and Second Product of the Hustler Fund.

Ruto said he respected the Supreme Court’s ruling, however, he reiterated that the Republic of Kenya has values that do not allow same-sex associations.

“You know me very well, I am a God-fearing man and whatever happened at the court, even if we respect the court, our culture, values, Christianity and Islam cannot allow women to marry each other, or men to marry fellow men,” Ruto said.

Ruto’s statement echoes his earlier remarks that he gave during an interview with CNN when he also said there was no room for homosexuality in the country as the law and constitution prohibit it.

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“We have Kenyan law, we have Kenyan constitution, we have our tradition, customs; we will continue to respect other people’s customs as they respect our customs and traditions,” he said.

On Friday, the Apex Court ruled that denying the LGBTQ members the right to register as an NGO was discriminatory, despite homosexuality being illegal in the country.

In 2013, a lower court barred the LGBTQ members from registering as an NGO to advance their rights.