The African Moral Perspectives on Human Rights and Their Influences on Anti-Gay Laws in Nigeria and Kenya

Abstract

African moral perspectives on human rights are reflective of moral systems that are exclusive to African social philosophies. This paper asserts that there is an African conception of human rights based on the moral systems in Africa, which are a product of social philosophies on the continent. The paper analyzed the compliance of anti-gay laws in Nigeria and Kenya with human rights principles enshrined in the constitution of both countries and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. It found the anti-gay laws inconsistent, and in gross violation of constitutional and international law standards. It further argued that despite the unimpressive development of the African conception of human rights, it has little or no influence on the anti-gay laws, especially as the anti-gay laws are a product of colonialist legacies. The paper concluded that for laws to achieve social justice, they have to be of a sound juristic process.