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Ezekiel Mutua meets his match in self-professed gay musician – VIDEO


Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) chief executive, Ezekiel Mutua, on Tuesday faced the wrath of a self-professed gay musician who wanted to know why the board banned his music video.

Musician Joji Baro, a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community in Kenya, put Mr Mutua to task over the ban of his music video for being ‘pornographic’, something he disputes.

During a tense forum organized by KFCB, entertainers also rejected a new proposal in the Films, Stage Plays and Publications 2016 and told off Mr Mutua.

The “ridiculous” proposals, if passed, would have forced Kenyans taking videos using their mobile phones to register them with the board before posting them on Twitter or Facebook.

The proposal further requires that Internet service providers review all the videos exhibited and distributed through their platforms, failure to which they would be fined Sh2 million or be imprisoned for two years or both.

The artistes also took issue with the proposal that all posters for stage plays must be written in English and if not, the CEO may require a translation, which is certified to his satisfaction.

GRAPHIC SEXUAL SCENES

They said that the clause was unconstitutional, saying the Constitution clearly sets out the official national languages as English and Kiswahili.

Mr Mutua said the rejection of the proposed amendments by the stakeholders means that the board has to go back to the drawing board to formulate new changes to Cap 222, which he will now enforce as it is.

In February 2016, KFBT wrote a letter to American technology giant Google’s who own YouTube channel demanding they pull down a music video titled Same Love (by Art Attack) claiming it violated Kenya’s laws.

Mr Mutua had said that the video had graphic sexual scenes between people of the same gender as well as depiction of nudity and pornography.

The films board argued that since homosexuality was illegal in Kenya, the music video must be banned.

In response to KFCB, Google Kenyan office said it has no authority to take down any flagged content on its website.

The video has since been flagged by YouTube with a warning of it being inappropriate, the video, however, plays after the message has been displayed.