The John-Henry Westen Show - African leaders reject Biden's anti-family neo-colonialism： Africa Life Forum

00:00:00.000 According to researchers, the largest random sex survey ever conducted reported that only 1.4%

00:00:06.980 of adults engaged in homosexual behavior. That was from 2003. Let's fast forward 20 years in

00:00:13.680 Canada because I'm coming from Canada so we'll maintain with Canada's statistics. Right now,

00:00:18.320 that same age bracket, late teens, early 20s, it's not 2% anymore. It's 22%.

00:00:30.000 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

00:00:38.220 Sister Veronica, to give you some background as to LifeSite's great interest here in Africa,

00:00:48.960 it is because in Canada, in the United States, in Europe, where we normally are, the faith is lost.

00:00:59.180 The family is lost. Life is lost. And we need somewhere on Earth for it still to exist,

00:01:07.980 for the sake of our children, for the sake of the whole world. And the place where it exists today,

00:01:14.860 most strongly, is here in Africa. It's been an incredible thing for me to come earlier this year

00:01:20.960 to Africa and see the great faith here, see the strength of the church here, because it is the

00:01:30.880 voices of our spiritual fathers, the bishops, that carry this truth forward and sustain it in the world.

00:01:37.900 In many of our countries, we began down the slope to an anti-family stance in our governments

00:01:47.200 because our bishops refused to speak.

00:01:51.000 Welcome to LifeSite League. What are we? We are change.

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00:02:39.460 Christ is calling you.

00:02:43.320 He is calling every single one of us to fight,

00:02:46.760 to fight for truth and stand on the front lines with our greatest weapon in our hand,

00:02:51.940 the rosary.

00:02:53.480 The world we are living in is encompassed by evil. 0.95

00:02:57.440 It is mocking God, killing babies in the womb, 1.00

00:03:01.000 and burning down our churches. 0.97

00:03:03.420 And what are so many of us doing?

00:03:05.400 We are standing by in silence.

00:03:08.760 Or worse, we are compromising and joining the devil's army out of convenience.

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00:03:35.400 The situation is so strange, so unbelievable.

00:03:45.900 But as soon as you head down this direction, this is where you get.

00:03:49.940 I've got a chart here.

00:03:51.960 It compares a study on homosexuality in Canada from 2003.

00:03:57.180 And then I've compared it to 2023.

00:04:01.500 And you might think, this is impossible.

00:04:04.020 I encourage you to go and look up the study.

00:04:05.720 They're both on LifeSite.

00:04:06.740 But according to researchers, the largest random sex survey ever conducted reported that only 1.4% of adults engaged in homosexual behavior.

00:04:16.920 That was from 2003.

00:04:19.680 So that you have, this is from the Canadian Community Survey, 121,300 adults.

00:04:27.640 So it's a very good survey of many, many, and you get to basically 1.4%.

00:04:35.560 And when they break it down, young Canadians between in their late teens and 20s and 30s and so on, were about 2%.

00:04:43.540 This is 2003.

00:04:46.040 Let's fast forward 20 years in Canada, because I'm coming from Canada, so we'll maintain with Canada's statistics.

00:04:51.300 Right now, that same age bracket, late teens, early 20s, it's not 2% anymore.

00:05:02.340 It's 22%.

00:05:04.300 And it's reflected in the United States as well.

00:05:07.860 In the United States, they just did a study earlier this year.

00:05:11.420 One in four high school students identify as one of the alphabet letters, LGBT, etc., etc.

00:05:18.740 We are in an absolute crisis that is growing by the day, and the policies of the government have turned against the church, have turned against those who are at all faithful.

00:05:35.500 So you have, in the United States, the government, the FBI, the arm of government for policing, has turned on innocent Catholics.

00:05:47.700 There are Catholic families who are being sought after by the FBI, hunted down.

00:05:55.980 Their homes are being come to with FBI agents' guns drawn to confront them and their families.

00:06:05.780 And it's not just one, it's several families.

00:06:08.960 Why?

00:06:09.320 Because they were pro-life activists.

00:06:12.080 Not violent pro-life activists.

00:06:14.340 Just the kind that go outside the abortuaries and pray.

00:06:19.100 And yet they're targeted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the United States under an administration by a guy who calls himself a Catholic.

00:06:29.520 So that's the state of the war on life and family inside Canada, inside Europe, and the United States.

00:06:40.080 And we've come here to show you how we lost this war in our countries, so that the faith can have one place where it still stays.

00:06:52.140 So that the life and family teachings of Jesus Christ can be maintained in one land, because there is no other.

00:07:00.300 I will tell you our perspective on these issues.

00:07:07.120 I want to go over what we're going to be talking about this evening.

00:07:10.220 I've already talked about the startling increase in LGBT in America and Europe, especially in children. 0.97

00:07:18.240 You know what's happening with children?

00:07:21.320 Children from very young ages are being given irreversible treatments that will harm them forever,

00:07:29.100 because their parents deem them trans from the time they're two years old.

00:07:32.920 And there's actual doctors and hospitals that are very well-to-do that suggest they will go and give these treatments.

00:07:40.900 They're irreversible treatments, but they say, oh, it's no problem.

00:07:44.280 It's not holding on to anything.

00:07:47.160 And so we have that horror happening right now.

00:07:50.000 We have men in women's change rooms. 1.00

00:07:56.740 We have men in women's sports.

00:08:00.280 We have men in women's prisons. 1.00

00:08:02.920 You'd think a movement that calls itself feminist would have said, no, you can't do that. 1.00

00:08:11.880 But no, the feminist movement has proved they were never for women by allowing and encouraging this insanity. 1.00

00:08:21.560 We also have a continuation of abortion and contraception, but all of it actually comes back to the need for our bishops to speak out.

00:08:35.080 And that was the first shoe that dropped in Canada, in America, in Europe.

00:08:39.740 The bishops were silent.

00:08:42.360 And that is the death knell to the movements for life and family.

00:08:49.320 So I want to give you our perspective because it's what I've said is already quite startling with regard to where the society is at.

00:08:57.460 But our perspective has always been a perspective of love.

00:09:03.220 It's not about hatred and bigotry.

00:09:05.940 Most of the West, most of these countries now point to Africa. 1.00

00:09:09.580 They just want to kill the gays. 1.00

00:09:12.080 And it's a complete, utter, total lie. 1.00

00:09:15.400 But they say it anyway.

00:09:16.840 They say it of all of the pro-life, pro-family activists in Canada and Europe as well.

00:09:21.400 But our position has always been one of love.

00:09:26.580 Because we love our brothers and sisters who are tempted into the sin of homosexuality enough to tell them.

00:09:33.640 We love them enough to tell them this behavior harms you.

00:09:37.440 It harms your body.

00:09:38.320 It harms your mind.

00:09:39.180 And it harms your soul.

00:09:40.140 And we're all Catholics and Christians.

00:09:42.020 And we believe in an everlasting life.

00:09:44.360 And you're threatening your eternal salvation.

00:09:46.620 There's no way I want to see you not making heaven.

00:09:50.000 So, even though they're going to call me a hater and a bigot.

00:09:54.000 Even though that they might come after me with the FBI.

00:09:56.120 I'm willing and ready to speak for you because I love you.

00:10:00.980 And then they might say, oh, come on.

00:10:03.720 Harming.

00:10:04.480 Harming what?

00:10:06.140 Well, the harms are very obvious.

00:10:08.580 The harms, you look on LifeSite News.

00:10:10.420 You can see all the studies of all the harms to the body that are here.

00:10:14.260 We've got doctors here, medical doctors here who are able to speak to that as well. 0.74

00:10:17.520 Well, I want you to take the word of a Canadian homosexual activist. 0.54

00:10:24.160 This guy's name was Jens Helquist.

00:10:25.960 He was a campaigner for the LGBT movement.

00:10:30.020 In 2005, we got same-sex marriage in Canada.

00:10:36.320 We're the first countries on earth to allow same-sex marriage.

00:10:38.560 Four years later, in 2009, Jens Helquist went to the government begging for money for the homosexual community. 0.98

00:10:50.560 And here's why he said he needed it.

00:10:53.300 He said, and these are his words.

00:10:56.920 His words to government. 0.99

00:10:58.360 And listen very carefully, because these words from this homosexual activist tell clearly the damage that homosexuality does to them. 0.97

00:11:09.080 He said, we have one of the poorest health statuses in this country. 0.98

00:11:13.620 And he's talking about the homosexual community.

00:11:15.440 Health issues affecting queer Canadians, that's homosexual Canadians, include lower life expectancy than the average Canadian, suicide, higher rates of substance abuse, depression, inadequate access to care, and HIV AIDS.

00:11:29.540 He said, there are all kinds of health issues that are endemic to our community, only for that LGBT community. 0.99

00:11:39.460 And he says, we have higher rates of anal cancer in the gay male community. 0.85

00:11:43.840 Lesbians have higher rates of breast cancer. 1.00

00:11:46.560 And these were his concluding words, asking for money from the government. 0.84

00:11:51.220 He said, now that we can get married.

00:11:53.820 Remember, they got married four years before that.

00:11:55.900 Now that we can get married, everyone assumes that we don't have any issues anymore.

00:12:01.680 A lot of the deaths that occur in our community are hidden.

00:12:07.720 We don't see them.

00:12:09.220 But those who are working on the front lines see them.

00:12:12.960 And I'm tired of watching my community die.

00:12:16.240 Even if you don't believe the studies, the doctors, and the testimonies, you must believe the testimony of this LGBT activist who laid out clearly the harm that this lifestyle causes. 0.99

00:12:33.560 And therefore, those who fight for family, those who fight for life, love our brothers and sisters who are tempted into homosexuality much more than those who say, oh, go ahead, go ahead, wonderful, hooray, hooray.

00:12:49.120 That in the Bible is called hatred.

00:12:51.380 Any parent who allows their children to do something that's going to kill them or harm them is not loving that child.

00:13:00.120 We must love our brothers and sisters who are tempted to the sin of homosexuality that's endangering their bodies, their minds, and their souls. 1.00

00:13:08.420 And we must be willing to sacrifice in order to love them enough to tell them that this is harmful.

00:13:15.600 With that, I am going to pass over to the reason why life cites in Africa in the first place.

00:13:25.680 You see, we had a very great pro-life activist in Canada whose name was Dr. John Shea and who I sat around a table like this with for many years.

00:13:34.240 And he's a great supporter.

00:13:36.160 He's now passed away.

00:13:37.660 But he had a son who I didn't know until very recently.

00:13:41.180 And his son was a supporter of LifeCite.

00:13:46.440 He was a Canadian diplomat.

00:13:48.840 He was then after that a businessman who was in China and all over the world and then came to Africa.

00:13:55.340 He's got a great heart for Africa.

00:13:57.780 And he combined those two loves of Africa and LifeCite and approached us and said, I think we can do work in Africa with LifeCite.

00:14:05.780 And so we've had a very happy relationship now for a while.

00:14:10.640 And Greg Shea, a good friend of mine, and someone who I am honored to work with, will give us our introductions.

00:14:18.840 Thank you very much, John Henry, and it's a real pleasure and honor to be here amongst such inspiring witnesses to Jesus Christ on his mission, which is to stand for dignity, for human dignity, and to love and to serve and to be channels and instruments of peace in this world.

00:14:37.860 So it's really an honor.

00:14:40.180 And all of you gathered here from different parts and different backgrounds, they're all part of a fabric, a fabric of life and love of life and love of God.

00:14:52.040 You've heard enough about me.

00:14:53.320 I can say a few words about this gentleman over here, too, which I found out in the last little while.

00:14:57.900 He's a father of eight and actually a father of 11, because unfortunately three of them were not able to come to return.

00:15:06.100 That's something, right?

00:15:08.620 In Africa, that's not a big deal, maybe.

00:15:13.240 And he co-founded the LifeCite News 26 years ago, and it was based on a movement that my father had been involved in, as you mentioned, and many others.

00:15:22.220 It goes back actually 50 years, I think, right?

00:15:25.220 The precursor campaign life, yeah.

00:15:28.240 So that's five decades of experience that we hopefully can share with you.

00:15:32.540 And I also learned that not only did he attend the most famous choir school in Canada, St. Michael's Choir School, but he actually remembers it.

00:15:43.060 Because when we're at Mass, he sings so beautifully.

00:15:46.820 And I'm sure that everyone's benefiting from that, too.

00:15:50.800 I think, though, that I would hand over to Tobias, who could then set the context for this, and then we can start with our speakers.

00:16:00.200 We have a series of panelists here who, again, are drawn from different but complementary parts of the community.

00:16:07.800 And so I'd ask Tobias, I think that's the plan, right, that you would have a chance to set the context for the TV viewers here.

00:16:15.960 Okay, thank you so much.

00:16:18.460 Dear viewers, we are here at Strathmore School of Business.

00:16:24.960 Kabchin TV, in collaboration with Lifesite News, is hosting the first-ever Africa Live Forum,

00:16:33.120 where professionals from all angles are seated here to give the green light on what's happening in the entire continent of Africa,

00:16:43.120 the perspective of Kenya.

00:16:44.540 Just to introduce why this forum is hosted in Strathmore University School of Business,

00:16:53.700 we all understand that the dynamics in the continent today have changed.

00:16:58.700 Life, the culture, the family settings, and the dedicated faithfuls from different angles of the religious groups have also changed.

00:17:09.620 And the Africa Live Forum aims to serve as a catalyst of dialogue from the different professionals here,

00:17:18.460 a collaborational move and an action to bring together individuals, communities, the youth,

00:17:27.120 women, families from different contexts, the elderly as well, different organizations, institutions, and even governments

00:17:36.580 to stand together and continue defending, protecting and promoting the dignity of the family, life, and also faith.

00:17:46.880 At this context, we look forward to achieve the following.

00:17:52.380 One, to continue bringing together professionals, media, stakeholders, especially members of the Christian faith,

00:18:01.680 academicians from different institutions, researchers, and activists,

00:18:05.920 to be able to continue defending the faith in Africa, protect the culture of life, sovereignty of the continent,

00:18:15.380 and the dignity of the region.

00:18:18.140 Number two, we look forward to facilitate the conversations and promote the understanding and respect for faith,

00:18:27.540 cultural practices, and traditional family structures in the continent.

00:18:32.120 Number three, we also look forward to identify, analyze, and the unique challenges that the African continent is facing

00:18:43.500 with the regards to faith within communities at individual level and families across the region.

00:18:51.680 Second last, we also look forward to discuss and explore opportunities for collaboration, empowerment,

00:18:59.140 and positive development in the realms of faith, life, and family.

00:19:04.560 And then lastly, we look forward to develop an actionable solution and strategies to address these challenges

00:19:12.900 that the many faithfuls, both in the Catholic faith and other Christian religious denominations,

00:19:20.680 communities, and families in the entire continent, from south to the north, east, and west.

00:19:28.080 So welcome, dear viewers, enjoy.

00:19:30.660 Ask questions by sending a text through the Caption TV contact or on YouTube.

00:19:37.200 Those comments will be picked, and during the sessions, we'll be glad to share the responses.

00:19:43.480 Thank you and enjoy.

00:19:47.560 Thank you very much.

00:19:48.740 So I suppose that the next step is to go to our first speaker, and I think we have a way of doing this in the West

00:20:00.380 where we call it going around the horn.

00:20:03.140 So maybe we can start with a speaker to my immediate left, who is a host in the way of this event

00:20:12.640 because you're with the Strathmore University, and I think it would be wonderful if we could hear from you.

00:20:17.560 But first of all, I'll say a brief version of a very extensive CD, Curriculum Vitae.

00:20:23.840 It's quite impressive.

00:20:25.560 Raymond Matura is the director of the Center of Research of Organizations, Work, and Family,

00:20:31.700 and Assistant for the Executive Dean of Strathmore University Business School, which is our host today.

00:20:38.500 And he is also the Academic Director of the Family Business Executive Program.

00:20:43.600 So he's a very busy man.

00:20:45.000 He is doing a PhD at Nelson Mandela University on Digital Innovation Adoption Framework

00:20:54.760 for Kenyan family-owned micro, small, and medium enterprises.

00:20:59.160 Very interesting, right?

00:21:00.400 Applying technology to build the family from the grassroots up.

00:21:04.100 He has a Master's in Applied Philosophy and Ethics from this university.

00:21:08.820 The thesis is on, is the family a principal of the nation?

00:21:12.920 Examined from an Aristotelian perspective.

00:21:18.500 So there you go.

00:21:19.840 He has a Master's in IT from Australia, postgraduate diploma in marriage and education and family from Catalonia, Spain.

00:21:29.000 And where have you not studied?

00:21:31.960 So, you know, that's to come, that's to come.

00:21:36.120 You're involved in technical working groups as well with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.

00:21:39.980 And the technical working group for the development of the draft national policy on family promotion and protection.

00:21:47.860 This is the real work.

00:21:49.940 But I saved the best for last.

00:21:53.220 Raymond is the father of four lovely children.

00:21:57.780 Congratulations.

00:21:58.260 Thank you.

00:22:00.820 Thank you.

00:22:00.880 Thank you.

00:22:01.040 Thank you.

00:22:01.140 Please.

00:22:05.880 Well, first is to welcome the LifeSite team here.

00:22:11.440 We're very gracious to host this first African forum.

00:22:16.440 Yeah, and of course, to also be part of the panel of distinguished people I have worked with in this journey on family.

00:22:29.680 Senior counsel, Tanjama.

00:22:32.520 Alice, representing her connections with parliament.

00:22:37.200 Anne, very vocal to Laifa.

00:22:40.120 And another distinguished, and of course, Dr. Ahome, we sit in the same committee in the Arc Diocese.

00:22:48.240 Yeah.

00:22:48.980 So, I think the, do you want me to make my remarks on this?

00:22:56.820 And then we would have time for one or two questions after each of the interventions.

00:23:00.820 Okay.

00:23:01.020 Yeah, so I think the, I mean, this is, this is very good.

00:23:06.160 We started our journey on pro-life.

00:23:09.440 I started as a young person in 1990, 1996, 7 there, when we set up True Love Weights.

00:23:19.860 And our idea was to try and set up True Love Weights clubs across schools.

00:23:25.560 So, my colleague, David, he's now passed, David O'Darrow, very passionate young man, introduced me to these ideas.

00:23:36.480 And at that time, I thought it was very obvious to everyone that it would be good to remain chaste before marriage.

00:23:45.340 But after a few years, I realized that there is a bit of a battle of people who don't agree to the obvious, yeah?

00:23:56.760 So, and I think that journey eventually took me to a number of things.

00:24:01.100 One of them is to try and work at a policy level, to try and understand what goes on from a policy perspective,

00:24:07.560 the policy system that is sometimes coordinated, funded by other NGOs, coordinated through the UN system.

00:24:15.320 Eventually, this comes through as laws in our country.

00:24:18.860 So, and at that time, I met a Canadian, Anna Halfine, the founder of World Youth Alliance, in the year, in the 2000s.

00:24:27.200 And she helps me to understand what goes on, yeah, the system and, you know, how to coordinate things.

00:24:32.120 And out of that, we've been working with the World Youth Alliance at some point of sitting the World Youth Alliance board

00:24:39.120 to try and see how we can work with the youth to get them to really talk about their real issues in their country,

00:24:50.140 the real problems, as opposed to what is being proposed to them as the problems and as the solutions.

00:24:55.860 So, I'm very happy that, you know, our connection and our work with World Youth Alliance has gone through all the five continents now.

00:25:04.120 And there's a very big World Youth Alliance group here.

00:25:08.480 Then I moved, I got married in 2001 and got into family.

00:25:12.260 Then again, I thought that people in family have all the tools and all the ideas on what they need to do.

00:25:18.420 So, and then realized that even if we have a very rich African culture on very key things about family and the strength to, you know,

00:25:27.940 eventually be family people, the need for taking care of children, there were still challenges around getting, you know, new knowledge on what to do.

00:25:38.740 Yeah.

00:25:38.960 So, for a long time now, I've been involved with the International Federation for Family Development.

00:25:43.680 It's another international NGO and we have set up programs for marriage, parenting within our business school and within the ecosystem in,

00:25:55.080 at least for so far in Nairobi, we haven't managed to reach out to all the places out of Nairobi.

00:26:00.880 Other than periodically, we've begun having engagements with schools to, you know, engage them on what their parents need to do,

00:26:09.320 what they need to do, what the school needs to do to promote this.

00:26:13.680 But the climax of all the work has been the development of the national policy that we began in 2014,

00:26:21.900 a journey that we have participated with many people in this room.

00:26:27.700 And to tell you the truth, I actually never knew we would ever get here because there are all sorts of things,

00:26:33.180 all sorts of hurdles that we've gone through in trying to suggest something that is very obvious.

00:26:40.440 The constitution in Kenya clearly spells out in Article 45 that the family is a fundamental unit of society

00:26:48.540 and the state actually should protect that idea and that there should be an enactment of laws and policies that support that idea.

00:26:56.200 So I thought, again, that was very obvious and that it will not take us nine years to get a policy,

00:27:03.460 you know, pulled through.

00:27:05.040 We've had back and forth.

00:27:06.480 We've had it go to cabinet.

00:27:08.020 We have it was a return.

00:27:09.240 We have to fix this, fix the other, engage this, engage the other.

00:27:13.340 But finally, this year on October 2nd, 2023, the National Policy on Family Promotion and Protection was approved by cabinet.

00:27:24.740 Amen.

00:27:25.000 So we kind of have a government node to implement many of the aspirations of the family that, again, are articulated very clearly in our constitution.

00:27:41.620 We're not making it up.

00:27:42.860 It's not some thing we cooked or the church cooked or anyone cooked.

00:27:47.400 It's the people of Kenya.

00:27:48.420 The people of Kenya voted for this constitution and, you know, it was given a vote.

00:27:55.520 People had to say yes or no to the constitution.

00:27:58.200 And among the things that the majority of Kenyans said is that Article 45 is what we want.

00:28:04.860 We want the family to be protected.

00:28:07.400 So I'm looking forward to its implementation and I'm hoping through the collaboration of the people here,

00:28:13.000 collaboration of, by the way, the National Family Policy was a project of all the people.

00:28:18.420 Almost everyone.

00:28:20.040 Because if you talk about the Hindus, they were there.

00:28:22.480 If you talk about the Muslims, they were there.

00:28:24.860 If you talk about the Protestants, they were there.

00:28:27.560 If you talk about the Christians, they were there.

00:28:29.620 If you talk about civil society, they were there.

00:28:32.880 This document that has taken nine years, nine is always a special number.

00:28:37.820 It represents the Holy Spirit.

00:28:39.920 I mean, the God, the Trinity in a way.

00:28:42.540 So it's a good number.

00:28:44.620 What we've done for nine years has been the work of all the Kenyans. 1.00

00:28:48.000 And for those who may be doubting, this is the product of Kenyans.

00:28:52.800 So I'm very glad and I'm very happy to receive the support that you have from your countries on other ways to be able to promote life.

00:29:01.800 Thank you very much.

00:29:06.480 We were originally thinking of doing a Q&A after each speaker, but I think in the interest of time, maybe I could ask the same question to each speaker.

00:29:13.440 Knowing that we're here to compare notes and think about how to best defend and promote life and family in the Kenyan and African countries, what do you see as the greatest challenge?

00:29:27.740 And perhaps, in addition, opportunity, from your own experience, to achieve that goal?

00:29:37.260 So I'd ask you first.

00:29:38.180 What is a great, I think there is a kind of a wave.

00:29:44.080 And I don't know whether the wave is being promoted or propagated by technology.

00:29:49.980 There's a kind of a wave that is attacking the obvious.

00:29:53.360 And unfortunately, the young people, I don't know what has changed with the young people, that they are ready to test anything else that is looking different.

00:30:03.980 So I know I have spoken to many of the parents and I tell them that, look, we have to be aware that one of our greatest threats in, you know, parenting and marriage is this new animal called technology.

00:30:17.860 And you see, when you look at it, some of us who are in technology, you know, it's that's very, you know, it's not very harmful.

00:30:26.500 They look very harmful, but without putting one's energy into thinking about its repercussion, one can find that actually any other extra time that they have there on some WhatsApp, it could be as, you know, as it's not harmful to be in WhatsApp.

00:30:44.440 But the habits that one can form out of being almost slaved to technology are beginning to be a big threat.

00:30:54.180 So I think that is the biggest threat to be aware that unlike the days we began in 2000, where sources of information were very clear, sources of information now are from all over and they, you know, they can spread like wildfire.

00:31:09.080 In Kenya, in Kenya, we have a big, a big social media following and all thoughts and ideas and the, you know, the public opinion.

00:31:21.560 Unfortunately, these days can come out of the social media.

00:31:27.660 So, so we, we kind of have to be aware of that.

00:31:33.000 And then what are the opportunities and the opportunities, thank God, where we are at, we have a big civil society.

00:31:41.040 We have a good network of people who have been thinking the same, but not necessarily on the same face.

00:31:46.720 I know, as I've said in the working committee, in the family, we've sat, I've sat with the Hindus, the Muslim, everyone.

00:31:53.940 And within the church and within the development of a parenting manual that we did, I have sat with other people who have different products and ideas on what they have been doing in their churches.

00:32:04.980 We kind of have a big network of people who are thinking together.

00:32:09.240 And we are the majority.

00:32:12.120 So the issue is to see how we can now implement some of these things that we have come, some of these tools we've come up with, the policy and these networks.

00:32:22.000 So we have a great opportunity.

00:32:24.280 Where technology is a friend and a foe, we have to work at that.

00:32:27.820 Yeah.

00:32:28.440 Correctly.

00:32:29.440 Okay.

00:32:31.080 Why don't you go on to all the other speakers and ask them the same question.

00:32:35.000 I think that would be good.

00:32:35.720 We're going to continue that.

00:32:36.700 Well, to your immediate left is our dear sister, the doctor.

00:32:43.560 It's like in Germany, her doctor, doctor, professor.

00:32:46.280 So capable.

00:32:48.940 Sister Dr. Veronica Rock, who is senior lecturer at Catholic University of East Africa, Center for Social Justice and Ethics.

00:32:57.980 Sister is a moral theologian and an ethicist and a counselor, as well as a corresponding member of PAB in the Vatican Union, the Pontifical Academy for Life.

00:33:12.440 Does that mean you're in that position for life?

00:33:16.380 Writers.

00:33:17.620 She writes and offers letters and seminars, lectures and seminars on African Christian family and social issues.

00:33:25.560 Dear sister.

00:33:26.840 Thank you.

00:33:27.160 Thank you.

00:33:32.020 I want to thank you, especially in the life side and all the panelists who are here for this opportunity to give my sight as a religious woman.

00:33:46.420 Like the course for the Samaritan woman when she met Jesus and she went back to our community. 0.93

00:33:58.960 And after some time, the people said, we don't believe because of what you told us, but we have experience by ourselves.

00:34:10.220 So in Africa, we want to thank the missionaries who came and brought the faith, introduced Jesus to us.

00:34:20.420 And after some time, and after some time, it was not easy for the African people to embrace either those who want to join priesthood, or if you wanted to be a sister, a brother.

00:34:35.360 The idea was no.

00:34:38.360 The reason was Africans believe that every person is, they have to marry and get children. 1.00

00:34:49.400 So the idea of not marrying was kind of foreign and unless for religious purposes, there was that idea.

00:35:03.140 But now the church in Africa has impressed Christianity, they have embraced the Catholic faith.

00:35:13.500 And you find now many families, many churches, we have priests, sisters, brothers, and there is vocations, you could say there's boom of vocations in Africa.

00:35:32.420 So that is the situation where we are.

00:35:34.560 And it gives us now, as indigenous people from Africa, as Pope Paul said, that Africa, to reach a time that Africans will evangelize themselves.

00:35:50.260 And this is the position where we are.

00:35:53.080 We are now getting back to our people to share the mission of Jesus Christ.

00:35:58.260 And our role as religious persons is, apart from prayer, which we pray for the family, the society, the nation, and everything that is in the world, that is our life as religious persons.

00:36:19.120 But it's also to share our charisms.

00:36:22.280 We have different gifts from the Holy Spirit through different founders, founders of the congregations.

00:36:31.900 And we take part to participate in the mission of the church.

00:36:38.040 And in that mission of the church is really to teach about the dignity of the human person.

00:36:45.280 And this also correspond to what African people believed.

00:36:52.280 We believed in life.

00:36:53.660 And we believe that every person has a dignity.

00:36:59.200 When it's brought from the Jesus perspective, from the Christian perspective, it is something that our people easily appreciate.

00:37:12.760 And it resonates with them.

00:37:15.260 And they find home at that.

00:37:17.620 So the dignity of the human person, the dignity of marriage and family, the place of marriage and family in society is something that is a place that is respected.

00:37:36.280 It really holds everything.

00:37:39.820 Family is at the center of life.

00:37:42.860 So when we bring the gospel of Jesus Christ and teach them about the family, at what Jesus says, what the church teaches about marriage and family, our people understand.

00:38:00.200 And really, they find it easy to appreciate and accept the gospel.

00:38:08.620 So our role as religious men and women and also priests is to teach.

00:38:14.640 And we find our people, when we meet them, when we teach them during, when we teach catechisms, maybe in the parishes, we work in pastoral, also in education, institutions of learning in our schools.

00:38:32.980 You find sisters, we take part, and a number of schools in Kenya are run by the religious and especially the sisters.

00:38:45.540 And it gives us an opportunity to teach what the church says about family.

00:38:53.160 And at the same time, being Africans, we are able to understand and know what does the church teach, what does the African people hold and value.

00:39:08.480 And there are some of the things which may not agree.

00:39:12.420 And we are able to tell the people in a way that they come to understand.

00:39:18.080 But from the African perspective, some of the values or challenges, we can call challenges, which does not agree with the gospel, it was for them, for life.

00:39:32.580 It was like we practice, many people practice polygamy.

00:39:37.640 It was not just the issue of having many wives, but because they wanted life.

00:39:44.000 They wanted many children.

00:39:45.720 In fact, you are respected and you are held in a certain standard when you have children, many children, and maybe even many wives, and you can control that family.

00:40:02.480 So the issue of having one, two children, African people will ask you, what's happening?

00:40:09.480 You are supposed to have as many, my mother had eight.

00:40:18.440 So, and that is very respectful.

00:40:21.820 You had many children and it brought joy to the family and the children at their own place.

00:40:28.940 It was riches.

00:40:30.480 In fact, for African people, one is not counted rich because you have material.

00:40:39.480 But if you have children, married and children, that's enough, you are rich.

00:40:44.800 For my people, if you add cows, okay, then you are very rich.

00:40:49.960 So, the issue of really family and children was paramount and took a center stage.

00:41:00.120 So, when we meet our people, maybe in health institutions, and we talk to them about their health, about how to bring up the families, then they appreciate.

00:41:12.980 But lecturing in the Catholic University of Eastern Africa and working at the Center for Social Justice and Ethics, where I teach Christian ethics, and the whole institution, all students take Christian ethics.

00:41:29.120 So, I meet all students taking law, economics, everything that they have.

00:41:35.520 I meet them.

00:41:36.840 And I find that there are a lot of challenges.

00:41:41.280 There are emerging issues, values, which these students, and even lecturers, young one of them, they find through social media.

00:41:52.440 And for them, it is cool.

00:41:58.000 So, through social media, they are introduced to some of the values which are contrary to our African values.

00:42:08.160 And some of the emerging values is what you have shared, LGBTQ.

00:42:15.020 And the position of the church, I understand, every person has a dignity.

00:42:23.860 Whether you are LGBTQ or whatever, a human person is created in the image and the likeness of God.

00:42:32.300 But the issue now is, what could Jesus do in LGBTQ? 0.66

00:42:39.540 This is what we discuss with our students, okay?

00:42:42.380 This is what the practice we find now, and it has been introduced here now in Africa, contrary to our own beliefs.

00:42:51.540 But what could Jesus do?

00:42:54.280 Would he tell you to continue, okay?

00:42:56.600 Continue what you have, or he would challenge.

00:43:00.380 And this is where the position where the students, and as I go, talking to, giving seminars and workshops,

00:43:08.660 this is the elephant in the room.

00:43:10.600 This is the issue that we have to tackle, because all agree it is anti-life.

00:43:19.420 If we continue this way, we are not even Africans.

00:43:24.800 We don't have that vitality, the value of life, which we find in marriage between a man and a woman. 0.96

00:43:36.360 And that is even why, even for Africans, you hear of what we call a woman marrying a woman. 0.94

00:43:46.020 But it is not lesbian.

00:43:48.340 It was, if a woman does not have children, she gets another woman, like surrogate, so that this young one, and they get the one, if she happens to have had a child, 0.74

00:44:03.720 then she can give birth for this lady who did not have children. 1.00

00:44:09.240 So, a woman marrying a woman in Africa is not lesbian. 0.53

00:44:14.260 It is for children, so that the family, there is arrangement, they do proper arrangement.

00:44:21.220 According to the African culture, there is a way they do so that this woman will not die without a child,

00:44:29.340 but this other one will bring up children for her.

00:44:32.880 So, there are challenges which we meet as religious people, which we meet and encounter in our families.

00:44:44.480 And some of our families, they seem to have no problem, especially those who also go to social media and exposed.

00:44:55.740 It's kind of, you are civilized, you have gone to America, you have gone, as you say, Canada.

00:45:00.800 When you come back, you are like, I know things now.

00:45:05.740 And they tend to introduce these to the families.

00:45:10.220 But all of them, it is issues that we all need to stand and talk about.

00:45:18.500 Thank you so much.

00:45:19.340 And thank you for addressing the point of the challenges as well.

00:45:24.540 It's just really welcome.

00:45:25.500 Now, to your nap, we have someone I've met before.

00:45:29.980 Good to see you again, Dr.

00:45:32.140 Dr. Lohome Ngari.

00:45:35.700 It's, first of all, married.

00:45:38.840 And in 1993.

00:45:42.160 And he's blessed with three children.

00:45:44.480 And a daughter-in-law, two grandchildren.

00:45:47.100 So, you're well on your way.

00:45:48.520 He has been a medical doctor since 1991, specializing in obstetrics and oncology since the year 2000.

00:45:58.740 He's the founding director of Mercy Health Services, which owns the Mercy Medical Center.

00:46:04.880 He is the director of the Kenyan Christian Professionals Forum, the chairman of its Governance Accountability Forum,

00:46:10.720 and the immediate former convener of its Life Committee, chairman of the Kenyan Catholic Doctors Association,

00:46:18.040 the commissioner of the Catholic Justice and Peace Department,

00:46:21.260 a member of the family board of the Diocese of Nairobi,

00:46:24.540 and a member and board of various private companies on their boards,

00:46:29.160 and admission hospitals and NGOs.

00:46:32.060 He's passionate about Christian engagement as a kingdom in all spheres of influence, especially healthcare.

00:46:38.100 Now, the family and social economic spheres.

00:46:42.540 Dr. Wohome.

00:46:44.540 Thank you very much.

00:46:45.960 Thank you very much.

00:46:49.500 And I'm pleased to be in this meeting and the coming together of minds.

00:47:00.980 On the issue of the challenges,

00:47:04.420 I've been in the pro-life movement for a bit now,

00:47:07.860 and it gives you an opportunity to reflect.

00:47:12.380 And what I've seen happen is that a solution, a problem is stated.

00:47:20.860 Somebody outside of Africa states what Africa's problem is.

00:47:26.100 Then it tells us how to solve the problem.

00:47:28.880 And the initial one was we are not very well developed.

00:47:36.140 We are struggling with development.

00:47:39.320 And we were told the reason was overpopulation.

00:47:42.640 And therefore, the solution was to reduce population.

00:47:46.080 And so there's always somebody who crafts a message and a solution around it.

00:47:54.180 Now we have climate change, and the globe is warming.

00:48:00.460 But what is the cost of the warming and what solutions are being offered, again, is something that we must look at and question.

00:48:09.280 So I feel our greatest challenge is language.

00:48:15.280 And I'll give some examples.

00:48:17.020 For instance, the LGBTQ agenda that has been mentioned.

00:48:20.700 From a medical point of view, if a person comes to my office and says he's a man who is trapped in a woman's body,

00:48:33.180 then from a doctor's perspective, the first thing you realize is this person is not in touch with reality.

00:48:41.140 He's actually delusional.

00:48:42.740 And the idea then is to understand that this delusion is not the diagnosis.

00:48:50.140 It is the manifestation.

00:48:52.980 And therefore, what is it that could have made them feel the way they are feeling?

00:48:57.160 Because it is not natural.

00:49:00.360 And when that you explore, then you discover, then there is issues of post-traumatic stress disorders.

00:49:07.560 And the right thing for me to do as a medical doctor is then to refer that person to a counseling psychologist.

00:49:17.380 It would be criminal for me and totally unethical to affirm that position and even suggest drugs or surgeries that would then affirm the delusion.

00:49:29.600 And that is what we find that is lacking from the West.

00:49:32.920 There isn't enough courage to stand for the truth.

00:49:35.880 And I think it is time we, as professionals, said it is enough and we stop playing games.

00:49:44.800 The other one is the question of abortion.

00:49:47.740 And we spend a lot of time discussing abortion.

00:49:51.800 Is abortion legal?

00:49:53.060 Is abortion not legal?

00:49:54.320 Is abortion ethical?

00:49:55.940 Is abortion not ethical?

00:49:57.700 Again, we have a problem of language.

00:50:00.160 Because the term abortion on its own just means deliberately bring to an end prematurely.

00:50:07.140 It is just an English word describing that you can end a process prematurely.

00:50:12.060 So you can end a pregnancy prematurely. 0.96

00:50:14.640 But does that mean you kill the baby deliberately?

00:50:17.460 So in medical practice, when you terminate a pregnancy before the baby can survive outside of its mother's womb, that is called induced abortion.

00:50:30.440 And induced abortion has always been unethical and criminal.

00:50:34.600 So you remove the term induced, and now we are discussing abortion.

00:50:38.260 And I think it is time we just clearly state that what is the intention of the service provider?

00:50:48.140 If your intention is to deliberately kill the unborn child, then, of course, whatever you are doing is unethical.

00:50:56.260 Now, there is a very interesting thing that is happening, that you can legalize an immorality, and then, in that bill, offer a solution for doctors.

00:51:08.240 And it is called conscientious objection.

00:51:13.220 Now, if you put conscientious objection in a bill, what you are first agreeing is that what you are asking people to do is immoral.

00:51:21.220 There must be something wrong if the conscience will not agree with it.

00:51:26.080 And if you allow me conscientious objection, then you are legalizing that which is immoral.

00:51:32.120 And that, in itself, makes the discussion very awkward.

00:51:38.300 So it is easier to say what you mean.

00:51:44.180 We want to bring a pregnancy to an end to save the mother and the child. 0.91

00:51:48.460 That we understand.

00:51:49.400 And the method we are going to use will give the baby the best chance of surviving.

00:51:54.340 But if your intention is to deliberately kill the baby before it's born, whether it is a few weeks old, whether it's nine months old,

00:52:03.860 then that is medically unethical.

00:52:07.120 And it is a position we should be able to sustain in discussion.

00:52:11.960 Then the question of why would a woman seek an abortion? 1.00

00:52:15.820 In my profession, we've seen women and the way they respond to the knowledge that they are carrying life. 1.00

00:52:23.500 And it's a precious thing to see.

00:52:25.920 When a mother knows that she is pregnant, when she does a fast scan and sees her baby for the first time, 0.94

00:52:33.260 for a woman to turn around and actually hit that to a point where she demands that her baby is killed, 1.00

00:52:40.440 you must all understand that it is not her who is a problem.

00:52:45.040 She is the only one who knows she is pregnant, and she is the only one who can protect that baby.

00:52:53.400 The question is, how do we respond when she tells us?

00:52:57.760 And that's where the challenge comes.

00:52:59.200 So the boyfriend says, I'm not interested.

00:53:03.340 That wasn't the plan.

00:53:05.400 The father of the girl says, you have let me down.

00:53:08.440 You must leave the home.

00:53:10.460 She goes to the pastor.

00:53:11.700 The pastor says, you have embarrassed me.

00:53:13.520 You now cannot come to the youth functions.

00:53:19.420 And everybody in the community have told her they don't want her baby.

00:53:23.500 And then when she turns around and terminates a pregnancy, we all point fingers and condemn her.

00:53:31.840 So let us go back a little and say, when we teach our children about sexuality, what should we teach them?

00:53:39.300 And I think one area that is lacking, that is in the theology of the body, is the spirituality of the sexual act.

00:53:48.520 That if, as Christians, we don't believe in reincarnation, that every child who is conceived is a new soul that has been created by God that didn't exist before,

00:54:03.220 then the act of coitus, the act of sexual relation, is basically an action of a man who is calling on God to make him a father.

00:54:18.520 So the man is a high priest in this sacrifice.

00:54:21.980 And his life-giving seed is the sacrifice that he gives.

00:54:26.400 And the altar is the woman he has nominated.

00:54:32.520 And when we teach this spirituality of the sexual act, I think it will start helping the boy child to reflect a little differently.

00:54:42.500 And the example I give them is of a maize farmer who went to a very fertile piece of land during the rainy season and scattered some maize,

00:54:52.280 then came back after a month and found the maize had grown.

00:54:55.860 And he immediately started casting the ground and saying, how could you grow maize?

00:55:00.300 What is wrong with you?

00:55:01.480 You know, this was not the plan.

00:55:02.820 And I tell them that's how we sound when a woman tells us she's pregnant. 0.98

00:55:09.040 And we say we are shocked and we are surprised.

00:55:13.640 So it is something to reflect on.

00:55:15.960 And so we need to address the act of sex from a spiritual perspective to demonstrate why then it needs to be within the family.

00:55:29.060 And then we say that if you are not ready to be a father or a mother, then you have a moral responsibility to avoid sexual intercourse. 0.64

00:55:36.280 And that would help us deal with that.

00:55:39.040 Then support the mother who is in crisis pregnancy so that she understands, despite where she may have fallen, that the baby is still welcome.

00:55:50.560 And we shall do everything we can to be able to help her.

00:55:54.140 So if you look at the opportunity, then the opportunity is about going back to support the family structure.

00:56:02.660 That marriage is not just a union between the man and the woman.

00:56:07.400 It involves the greater family.

00:56:09.580 And when there are challenges within the family, then it becomes our business to support that family.

00:56:15.140 Our greatest achievement has been the reproductive health policy.

00:56:20.260 That is, again, a Kenyan government policy.

00:56:24.140 It was initially instituted by the opposition in the hope of ingraining their habits into our population.

00:56:38.580 But we managed to get involved and cleaned it up.

00:56:41.340 And it is a very good document.

00:56:43.220 And what they've done is go to court to try and stop its implementation.

00:56:47.700 So we're hoping this government will help us to implement this together with the family policy so that we may be able to protect the sexuality of our people.

00:56:58.860 Thank you very much.

00:56:59.660 Now, I turn to the other side of the table, where we have Alice from Chiedi.

00:57:11.720 I'd ask the same question, maybe a bit of an introduction of your experience and your work in the area,

00:57:17.240 and then addressing the idea of the greatest challenge that you see, and then the hopeful opportunity that is also there.

00:57:27.220 Alice is the head of the Secretariat Catholic Members of Parliament Spiritual Support Initiative.

00:57:33.900 And she's the coordinator, and she's the coordinator as well, at the International Catholic Legislators Network, ICLN, of the Africa chapter of that group.

00:57:44.180 And also, Alice is active in the Catholic Women's Association of the Archdiocese of Nairobi.

00:57:50.940 So, I'll pass this over to you, Alice.

00:58:00.220 Thank you, LifeSite News, and also the other panelists and our guests here.

00:58:06.020 For me, working with Catholic politicians for the last 12 years has made me realize just the kind of potential we have

00:58:17.480 if we have our own Christians and Catholics, especially in places of power and where they can influence policy.

00:58:25.300 We have had many, many challenges, but I want to say that we have had wins because of having our own Catholics in these places of power.

00:58:35.860 And, of course, with the support that we have gotten, especially from the Christian professionals,

00:58:40.180 and forming unity of people of faith.

00:58:44.220 It's very difficult for politicians to work on their own because, particularly currently, the manipulation and the arm-twisting from the globalists,

00:58:55.360 from the radical feminist groups, and our fallback has been, particularly, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops and the people of faith.

00:59:04.920 And in Africa, especially in Kenya, I would confidently say that we can still, and we are still relying on the voice of the bishops.

00:59:12.040 Because we look up to them, and when nobody is listening to us, the bishops speak from the pulpit, and the world and the country listen.

00:59:22.500 We have an incident and a big win that we had in 2019.

00:59:27.080 We had the Health Reproductive Bill 2019, and by God's grace, we call it so, we won it because the bishops spoke from the pulpit, from the cathedral.

00:59:37.680 Nobody was going to church, but all the Catholics were watching, and other Christians, and other people of faith, were watching what was happening at the Holy Family Basilica.

00:59:46.680 We were talking, what the politicians were talking, it was a heavy issue, and they had to withdraw it because of collaboration, our collaboration with the bishops.

01:00:07.580 However, we need to foster a stronger unity amongst all people of faith.

01:00:14.860 We cannot win this battle as Catholics alone, or just Christians alone.

01:00:19.140 We have won battles in the past because the Muslims are with us, the Hindus are with us, the Protestants, the Evangelicals.

01:00:25.600 This is very, very important.

01:00:27.120 And for the Catholic legislators, first the Africans, on the issues we are speaking about, abortion, LGBTQI, in Africa, they were unheard of.

01:00:39.340 And our politicians are first Africans, then they became Christians, they have a constitution to defend.

01:00:46.640 And if they are equipped well with information, they will defend it, and we shall win this war.

01:00:51.800 And if we go back to the voice of war bishops, they are vocal, they are strong, and the Catholic bishops, I would say, are the single most respected voice of religious leaders in this country.

01:01:08.020 But do they have enough information?

01:01:10.340 Are we supporting them enough to be able to speak without contradicting themselves?

01:01:15.060 We do not have reliable media that would cover what the bishops say as they would cover any other scandal, especially if it touches on the church.

01:01:26.080 We need our own media, whether it's social media, where we can reach the majority of Christians, and even the non-Christians and the non-Catholics. 0.96

01:01:36.380 Because for the respect that we have of our bishops, they become our fallback.

01:01:41.840 For instance, right now we have a family protection bill.

01:01:44.120 We are still going back to our bishops to tell them to push on the pulpit so that they can be blocked, can be unlocked, and we can go to the floor of our parliament so that we pass it in the morning.

01:01:57.920 Or the politicians can pass it in the morning.

01:02:01.580 We need to capitalize on this authority that is really, really respected by all peoples of faith, and even the non-believers, respect to the Catholic bishops.

01:02:10.480 And when they speak, things move.

01:02:13.900 And we also need the professionals, really, the bishops and the Catholic politicians, a lot of support and a lot of information.

01:02:23.500 We do not want to get where the rest is.

01:02:26.480 But without information, we shall get there.

01:02:28.980 Without information on the forms of LGBTQI.

01:02:35.060 And the reality that, like Dr. Ahome is saying, that a baby in a woman's womb is a pre-born human being.

01:02:43.920 So information we need, particularly to the West, then we need examples that we can learn from, where people are trying.

01:02:51.260 In the U.S., they have more than 700 laws.

01:02:54.020 They're trying to reverse what they did more than 50 years ago.

01:02:59.440 Out of those, 70 have passed in the positive.

01:03:02.020 But the damage is very, very difficult to repair.

01:03:06.800 So the biggest challenge we have, one, is media coverage.

01:03:10.700 The second is lack of information.

01:03:14.480 The third is technology, because that is what is feeding our children.

01:03:20.960 And we also need a lot of support for our politicians.

01:03:24.120 And when we go for election, we keep saying, do we know the values and the virtues of the political leaders that we put in place?

01:03:34.040 Because if they do not have values and virtues, they will go to the side of the globalists.

01:03:40.060 If they have no Christian values, if they do not have African cultural values, we do not expect them to protect the value of the values that we are propagating. 0.92

01:03:49.980 Our Catholic and peace, spiritual support initiative was initiated.

01:03:55.380 The first idea came into our minds in 2008.

01:04:01.340 And we found a reason to come together as Christian leaders.

01:04:06.820 The first, there was a pro-abortion bill in the April of 2008.

01:04:11.140 We didn't go far, because we were all denominations, Christian denominations together,

01:04:16.400 until those that later became the founders of our Catholic and peace and spiritual support initiative realized that we could do better if we started with the Catholic initiative.

01:04:27.520 And we came together again in 2012.

01:04:29.800 2013, there was another attempt.

01:04:31.560 2014, there was an attempt.

01:04:34.440 2016, there was an attempt.

01:04:36.960 2019 was the peak of it, because of the ICPD conference.

01:04:42.460 And you see, because of that initiative, we are able to detect what is coming through the policy.

01:04:50.060 We are able to collaborate with the Christian professionals and the church leaders, including non-cathletists and non-Movulms.

01:04:57.240 So it is important that we have such groupings, particularly in the ministries.

01:05:04.140 In parliament, we are there.

01:05:05.900 But we cannot win alone.

01:05:07.500 We can only win if we have collaboration with the professionals outside and the church leaders.

01:05:13.940 So we need our own media.

01:05:16.000 We have caption here, we thank God.

01:05:17.640 But we need even to employ and engage our youth, to be on the social media, because the youth of this country do not even watch news.

01:05:26.800 By the time news are being aired, they know what every media house will air, because they have been on the social media throughout the day.

01:05:35.880 And so why don't we go to their playground and communicate there, because they are the targets of the globalists, the radical feminists, and those who want to destroy our families, and those who are propagating the culture of them. 1.00

01:05:50.840 That is what I have to say for now.

01:05:52.440 Very clear, very clear challenges and opportunities and great experience, and I will now turn to you as an advocate in the room.

01:06:04.580 Charles Kanjama is an advocate at the High Court of Kenya, and he's a partner, a founding partner, of UMA and Kanjama Advocates.

01:06:13.160 He's practiced in many areas of law, the list has about 10 or 12 areas here, and also is a frequent contributor, writing extensively on many aspects of civil procedure, environmental law, imperative constitutional law, international institutions and property, including intellectual property, legal ethics and jurisprudence, author of Digest on matrimonial property law, constitutional law, and tax law.

01:06:41.960 Charles Kanjama, and is a regular columnist in the standard history.

01:06:45.880 Are there any areas of law that you're not calling?

01:06:50.980 Also as a member of the Strathmore Education Trust, Charles is a council member of the Law Society of Kenya, and a convener of its Constitution, Implementation, and Law Reform Committee.

01:07:05.080 So, we are very pleased to have you in our midst.

01:07:10.120 We would like to hear your thoughts.

01:07:12.300 Thank you very much.

01:07:13.500 I was a convener of the Constitutional Implementation Committee some years back when I was in the Law Society.

01:07:20.220 Subsequently, I became the chair of the Nairobi branch of the Law Society, and around that time, we founded Kenya Christian Professionals Forum.

01:07:31.640 So, Kenya Christian Professionals Forum is an ecumenical organization.

01:07:36.020 We have Catholics there.

01:07:38.380 We have Protestants there.

01:07:40.880 We have Evangelicals there.

01:07:42.700 So, all Christian. 0.98

01:07:44.120 I meant to add that you're currently the chair.

01:07:46.300 Is that right?

01:07:46.880 Yes, yes.

01:07:48.600 So, all Christians are there.

01:07:51.600 And we come from diverse professional groups.

01:07:55.240 And what brought us together was in 2010, when Kenya was in the process of coming up with a new constitution, in a constitutional process of formulation of a new constitution.

01:08:09.860 And the professionals felt that the church leaders would benefit from technical assistance from professionals, would assist in advising them on areas that are within our professional competence, were involved in training of trainers, those who would go to the ground to talk to the people on the grassroots.

01:08:32.480 So, for the last 13 years, since 2010, we have come together.

01:08:36.940 We've been engaging.

01:08:37.720 We focus on areas of life, of family, and of faith.

01:08:43.500 We also focus on good governance and values-based education.

01:08:47.780 One of the things that we noted is that advocacy requires you to keep engaging and not giving up.

01:08:56.060 And to recognize that advocacy doesn't mean that you have the most amount of money available.

01:09:03.480 There's a lot of money that is coming from the West.

01:09:06.180 There's a lot of strong lobby groups that are trying to convert the African culture into a mirror image of Western society.

01:09:19.880 Early this year, we had a meeting in Entebbe, Uganda.

01:09:24.420 And in that meeting, there were MPs from several countries in Africa.

01:09:30.520 And we were discussing how can Africa protect its culture and its family values.

01:09:36.400 And at the end of that meeting, we were happy to have a session with the president of Uganda.

01:09:43.300 And when we spoke to him about what we had been doing, he narrated for us that, according to him, Africa has undergone three cycles of being dominated by the West.

01:09:58.580 And he says the first was colonialism.

01:10:02.340 That domination involved taking land and freedom of the people of Africa. 0.86

01:10:08.940 And of course, apart from taking land and freedom, the Africans also got something in return, which we don't mind. 0.98

01:10:16.200 We were happy we got certain things, including Christian religion came at the time.

01:10:20.640 But we fought to get rid of the yoke of colonialism successfully.

01:10:27.240 And then he said that the second wave was the wave of neocolonialism, which involved certain international, you could call them unjust structures of trade and relationships.

01:10:38.360 That while the African countries were free in theory, in practice, they were still very dominated by Western trade and Western structures that had been put in place before.

01:10:54.960 And we were sucked into the Cold War.

01:10:57.920 The African countries tried to resist that and say we want to be part of the non-aligned movement.

01:11:03.180 But nonetheless, we found ourselves quite dominated in that situation.

01:11:09.400 And even some of our instabilities internal were occasionally fomented or supported by Western powers, like the assassination of Patis Lumumba in Congo.

01:11:22.380 These are things that have been studied.

01:11:24.120 And then Museveni said that we have now the third wave of domination.

01:11:28.140 And this domination is an attempt at cultural domination.

01:11:31.920 And it seems that those in some of the Western countries cannot sleep in peace until our African and moral cultural values are dismantled to the extent that they are different from theirs.

01:11:49.160 The other day, I met a diplomat from the United States who was telling me that for America, the question of homosexual rights, because that's what they call them, is very important to them.

01:12:02.560 And I reminded him that they become important when they, depending on whether it's the Democrats or the Republicans in power.

01:12:09.180 And he told me, no, you know, the American situation has really changed right now.

01:12:15.100 And I told him that the difference in my view is that when the Democrats in power, they put so much effort in persuading the rest of the world to embrace their values.

01:12:27.520 The big part of Western Europe is already quite liberal, like the Scandinavian countries.

01:12:34.660 And it becomes difficult for us here to just operate the way we want to operate because of the pressure that is being put on us.

01:12:44.160 It is now being brought even with a trade, international trade treaties and instruments.

01:12:51.500 Like recently, the nations of Africa have been negotiating and have finished negotiating a treaty with the European Union.

01:13:00.580 That is the post-Kotonou agreement.

01:13:04.920 This agreement, the European Union countries, they want to put their human rights language, which is basically supporting what they consider their values.

01:13:17.340 And to us, those are anti-values.

01:13:19.680 Because it's an anti-value, it's against life, the issue of abortion.

01:13:24.120 It is against the fundamental right to life.

01:13:27.040 There are values of, I don't know, supporting, they call them sexual minorities, but they're anti-values because they're against the family, which is a basic unit of society. 1.00

01:13:34.920 And so on.

01:13:36.160 So they put that language there, saying that even if you want to trade, you want to have access to trade opportunities, you must accept these rights that we accept in our countries.

01:13:47.940 The European Court of Human Rights might have an opportunity to interpret whether an African country is violating the values of the European Union under this treaty.

01:13:57.840 So we find when the Americans and the Europeans come together to push that agenda and ideology of theirs here, we are suffocating. 0.85

01:14:10.740 And our presidents in Africa have repeated time and again, we respect other countries.

01:14:17.620 We know you have different principles in the way you govern yourself.

01:14:21.880 We accept several principles like rule of law, justice, equality.

01:14:26.100 But we also have our values and you need to respect our values.

01:14:29.120 So that has been a key challenge here in Africa, that the Western nations are not ready to let us continue with our cultural and moral values.

01:14:42.460 So for me, I think the biggest challenge or threat to our cultural and moral values in matters of life, in matters of family, even our respect for the faith.

01:14:53.560 I think the biggest threat is the threat of ideas.

01:14:57.180 It's a philosophical battle.

01:14:59.160 The culture war has several elements.

01:15:01.600 And I think the philosophical one is critical.

01:15:04.720 In the West, the philosophical battle was lost during the time of the Wolfenden Report in the United Kingdom in 1957, the Devlin Hut debate that we studied in law schools of 1960 to 62.

01:15:20.240 They lost the battle at that time.

01:15:21.820 In America, they lost the battle when they came up with the Supreme Court decisions overturning their rules against homosexual conduct, like Lawrence v. Texas in 1984.

01:15:37.300 So they lost those battles.

01:15:38.960 But what we have found out, those of us who are at the front lines, is that the arguments that were used in the 1950s and 60s in the United Kingdom, in Europe, in the 1970s and 80s in America, based on modern sociology, modern biology, medicine, those arguments that they used to foist these ideas that are anti-values on their people,

01:16:08.960 have now have now been proven false.

01:16:11.240 The idea of John Stuart Mill, that what two people do in a bedroom by themselves doesn't affect anyone.

01:16:18.020 As the statistics have been shown on the screen by John Henry, that 1% has become 20%.

01:16:25.520 It shows you what two people do in a bedroom by themselves, if the state doesn't get involved in the matter occasionally, can affect the whole country.

01:16:35.600 In Kenya, in Africa, we have this saying about this analogy of an elephant, that it was raining quite heavily.

01:16:45.400 There was a storm, and the elephant approached a man who was in a hut, and it knocked with its trunk on the door of the hut.

01:16:53.720 And the man peeped from the window, and the elephant pleaded with the man that he just wanted to shelter its trunk from the rainstorm.

01:17:03.100 And of course, the man, after thinking about it, he allowed the trunk of the elephant a bit of access.

01:17:09.360 He opened the door a bit, it got a bit of access.

01:17:11.680 And after a bit of time, the elephant said it also wanted to shelter its ears, because its ears were also suffering the beating of the thunderstorms and so on.

01:17:21.560 And sooner than later, the head of the elephant was inside the hut.

01:17:25.540 And the elephant also needed to shelter its legs. 0.73

01:17:28.680 It needed to shelter its tail, and before the man knew it, the elephant was in the hut.

01:17:46.140 But the hut could not both contain the elephant and the man who was sheltering in.

01:17:52.180 So the man found himself thrown off his own hut through the window, and the elephant had taken possession of the hut.

01:17:59.220 And I think what we have seen is that these philosophies come in a very attractive way.

01:18:06.420 It won't hurt if you just allow me to shelter my trunk in there.

01:18:09.780 And that is why in the battle, the pro-life battle, the question is, but a baby, not even a baby, they use the word zygote or fetus or embryo, with just a few cells.

01:18:25.380 It doesn't even have ears.

01:18:27.300 Are you going to say that you cannot terminate that one?

01:18:31.300 Why don't you maybe put a barrier when you reach the second or third trimester, but you can allow before it gets a heartbeat.

01:18:38.720 And the moment the trunk gets in, it's inevitable that you allow the whole elephant inside the hut.

01:18:47.880 And so there is no apparent barrier to wage the pro-life battle the moment you concede that any unborn person in the womb does not have the right to life from conception.

01:19:03.480 The moment you move the point from conception to any other place in the nine months, you've lost the battle, because you've lost it at the philosophical level.

01:19:15.020 You've lost it at the level of ideas.

01:19:17.000 The rest is just practical implementation.

01:19:20.520 And it seems the same thing in the area of family.

01:19:23.680 The moment we depart from the reasoning of this famous English case called Sho v. DPP, it was a 1962 decision of the House of Lords, that the state or society has a right to protect public morals from corruption.

01:19:42.780 The moment you concede that, no, in fact, you should allow a bit of LGBT here and there, it is inevitable. 1.00

01:19:51.540 It's, you could call it the slippery slope argument, but we've seen the slippery slope.

01:19:56.080 We've seen the people going down the slippery slope until they get into the water.

01:20:00.360 So, here in Africa, that threat of the West is, first of all, a battle of ideas.

01:20:07.220 In the old days, we had taboos.

01:20:10.560 We had even stigma.

01:20:12.600 We had mechanisms within African culture to alienate or put on the sideline those who engaged in behavior that was harmful to the public good.

01:20:24.420 But we're in an information age, like one of my panelists has said, in which it's not enough to just rely on feelings.

01:20:32.700 We need to have scientific and evidence-based arguments for why these things are not going to work, why they are wrong.

01:20:41.000 Finally, let me conclude by saying as a Kenya Christian Professionals Forum, we've started publishing a state of life, family and faith report.

01:20:49.000 We did a second edition this year because we said that we need to study what are the threats to life.

01:20:56.720 Abortion is one, but there are others.

01:20:59.100 What can we do about them?

01:21:00.580 Are our interventions working?

01:21:02.760 What is the state of the family, the African family?

01:21:05.800 It is also wounded.

01:21:07.140 It is suffering from quite a bit of bruising.

01:21:10.360 And what is a state of faith?

01:21:11.700 And we are convinced that if we battle at the level of philosophical ideas to ensure that we have the right values and then also at the level of practice to ensure that people are implementing the right ideas.

01:21:26.040 Because there's a lot of grassroots interference by people bringing in money to turn them into other lifestyles. 0.92

01:21:33.460 Then we may be headed in the right direction.

01:21:36.500 We may serve as a bulwark against those negative influences that are coming from the West and then help the West to recover its soul.

01:21:46.540 Because that soul came to us, a part of it through Christianity, through the West.

01:21:52.640 But the West lost its soul.

01:21:54.540 It needs to find its soul here in the soil of Africa. 0.87

01:21:58.060 Amen.

01:22:01.440 Well, thank you so much, Charles.

01:22:03.240 So now I know where the expression, the elephant in the room, comes from.

01:22:10.520 Inconvenient truths and such.

01:22:12.880 Well, to conclude our go-around of the expert panel, we are delighted to have Mrs. Anne Kiyoko with us.

01:22:22.060 Anne is the director of Citizen Go.

01:22:24.360 She's a Catholic pro-life activist.

01:22:26.120 She's been active in organizing and supporting pro-life causes, including fundraising and network building.

01:22:35.280 And, you know, for the family, for life, for the embrace of that which should be obvious but is becoming challenged increasingly.

01:22:43.720 We have in our midst another warrior, and she's a very pretty warrior, and we thank her for being here today.

01:22:53.080 And maybe I can, as a former diplomat, I was struck by also the fact that you have a master's in diplomacy at University of Nairobi.

01:22:59.220 So maybe we can exchange notes on that as well.

01:23:02.780 So over to you, Anne.

01:23:03.800 Maybe you can exchange notes.

01:23:05.320 Thank you so much.

01:23:06.320 I'm currently pursuing my master's degree.

01:23:09.000 I'm almost finishing my thesis was on the state of health in Africa with that particular study in Kenya, the case study of Kenya.

01:23:18.960 So it has been quite an interesting study for me.

01:23:20.880 I just published it, and the results are quite interesting because I realize there's a lot of money that comes to the health sector in Africa, in Kenya,

01:23:30.360 and it all gets lost in other areas, and the focus has been different.

01:23:36.840 So maybe I can share my personal story.

01:23:39.380 I joined the pro-life activism when I was a teenager, and this is after, let me say, after high school.

01:23:48.700 My aunt shared with me that I was a crisis pregnancy myself.

01:23:52.460 My mom had joined Christian vocation, and she got pregnant when she was four years down the line, and so it was really quite difficult for her.

01:24:05.880 And I will share the details for later, but then it was quite difficult for my mom. 0.99

01:24:11.480 So I learned this when I was just a teenager, when I was joining the University of Nairobi, and this story was quite personal for me.

01:24:22.780 And once I joined the University of Nairobi, I realized there were several clubs, there were several societies, and there was a pro-life movement in the University of Nairobi, and I joined that one.

01:24:34.200 But then the battles were just small, just some NGOs sneaking leaflets under the rooms telling us to start using contraception.

01:24:43.920 That is in the university.

01:24:45.500 And so our battles were just saying, no, don't sneak these leaflets.

01:24:49.300 We could go and collect those leaflets and throw them in the dustbin.

01:24:52.880 Yeah, those small, small battles.

01:24:54.180 But then once I finished my first degree, I joined the profession of the world,

01:24:59.760 and I realized that there's a lot to be done, and somebody has to do it.

01:25:04.780 And I decided to join the pro-life battle.

01:25:10.700 And I grew up in the village in Nyahururu, and this place has a lot that it needs.

01:25:18.900 There are no roads, electricity.

01:25:20.820 I just connected electricity for my parents recently.

01:25:23.740 And water has flooring.

01:25:26.700 There's no tap waters.

01:25:29.380 And women go very far to get health facilities, the hospitals. 1.00

01:25:35.560 Once they get pregnant, they have to travel very far to get this kind of services. 0.92

01:25:41.760 And I happened to travel to the United States when I was, I think, sometimes in 2013.

01:25:50.060 And once I traveled there, I realized that there was quite a lot that was happening there.

01:25:55.860 There was a push for abortion, for LGBT, for comprehensive sexuality education.

01:26:02.260 And once I returned here, I started, I gained an interest.

01:26:06.440 I started studying what is happening in different areas in the Kenyan society.

01:26:12.900 And I realized that sometimes in 2017, an organization called UNESCO, together with other NGOs,

01:26:24.260 they had organized a curriculum called What Starts With Me?

01:26:30.480 And this curriculum was teaching comprehensive sexuality education. 0.72

01:26:35.140 And this curriculum was teaching abortion, sex as a right, LGBT issues, masturbation to five years old.

01:26:46.560 And it had penetrated to 50 schools.

01:26:49.200 And we had evidence of the list of the schools.

01:26:51.660 So that was my first ever battle.

01:26:53.760 And we had to do a petition to the Ministry of Education for this to be stopped.

01:26:58.880 And then later, we realized that there was an international organization that was pushing

01:27:04.880 or actually advertising abortion as if they were advertising candy, as if they were advertising biscuits.

01:27:11.560 You know, you just come have abortion, it's 5,000 shillings.

01:27:14.240 That is $50.

01:27:15.340 And we had to stop it.

01:27:17.360 And right now, we are in court.

01:27:18.780 I won't speak much because my lawyer is here, actually.

01:27:21.580 We are in court because of that organization.

01:27:23.880 And so we realized there is a concerted agenda, a very synchronized, a very well-planned agenda

01:27:33.340 to turn Africa into what the West is right now. 0.99

01:27:39.460 Population control being the top of the agenda.

01:27:42.600 And the organizations that are doing this are the same.

01:27:46.080 If you go to Kenya, like Alice said, there was a bill that had to do with SRHL.

01:27:52.200 That is abortion rights, CSC, and LGBT, the same kind of ability, the same content.

01:27:58.000 We went to Malawi, we found the same kind of content.

01:28:01.260 We went to Namibia, you will find the same kind of content.

01:28:04.260 You went to the East African Legislative Assembly, the same kind of content.

01:28:08.660 And who are the sponsors?

01:28:10.140 The same people.

01:28:11.160 IPAS, the Swedish government, the Canadian government.

01:28:15.040 I'm sorry.

01:28:15.440 The United States government, but when President Trump was there, it was a bit better.

01:28:23.080 But whenever you have those Democrats, always money has to come for this agenda.

01:28:28.700 So there's this very well-organized agenda.

01:28:31.760 There are these people, the players who are doing this day in, day out, and somebody has

01:28:36.300 to stop them.

01:28:36.940 So this has been my daily work to expose them and to educate people.

01:28:42.860 Because really, I think there was a study that was done by Kenya Christian Professionals

01:28:48.780 Forum together with the Sinovite Research Firm.

01:28:53.040 And they found that 80% of Kenyans are against abortion.

01:28:58.080 And over 88% of Kenyans are against homosexuality.

01:29:01.580 So we are like, who are these people pushing this agenda for?

01:29:06.040 When you go to the grassroots, they'll tell you they don't want abortion.

01:29:09.500 Actually, like our sister said, children are a blessing to them.

01:29:14.600 Why are we pushing for abortion? 0.98

01:29:16.140 Who are we benefiting?

01:29:17.380 You know, who are we benefiting when we push for LGBT agenda?

01:29:21.340 Why are we sexualizing children? 1.00

01:29:23.280 Who are we benefiting?

01:29:24.500 Why not push for the priorities that Africans need? 1.00

01:29:28.100 You know, and you will find that even when you go down to the grassroots in Africa, in

01:29:34.860 the villages, they don't even know what, you know, LGBT stands for.

01:29:39.740 But once you go to parliament, you'll find a member of parliament standing and saying,

01:29:44.080 this is what Africa needs.

01:29:46.280 But this member of parliament, not all of them, the compromised ones, the ones who have

01:29:50.860 gone and sat down with these sponsors, the ones who have gone and been given money,

01:29:56.040 the dirty money, the mammon, and they'll come to push for this agenda on us. 0.93

01:30:02.400 And that's why maybe we have been able to win against this, like Ali said, in parliament.

01:30:08.600 And besides parliament, there are those who are going to the ministries, you know,

01:30:15.840 and they sit with the corrupt people or maybe people who don't know actually what is in the

01:30:22.300 language of this.

01:30:22.980 You know, when you come to the ministry and you tell them, you know, we are pushing for

01:30:26.780 SRHR and they don't know what this is about.

01:30:30.360 It's a very good language, a word.

01:30:33.140 It's very good language.

01:30:34.660 Euphemism is very much used when they are pushing for this agenda.

01:30:37.900 They don't quite understand.

01:30:39.440 So what we are doing is to expose the language that is being used by these people.

01:30:45.400 What is CSE?

01:30:46.740 What is SRHR?

01:30:48.360 What is LGBT?

01:30:49.500 What is this transgenderism we are pushing? 1.00

01:30:51.220 And somehow we are gaining traction and maybe sometimes we lose, but somebody has to do something.

01:31:00.140 Yeah.

01:31:00.780 Beautiful.

01:31:01.640 Thank you so much.

01:31:04.720 I think I'll hand it back to you.

01:31:06.540 On behalf of LiveSite News and our very many supporters, I want to thank Strathmore and you, Raymond, for allowing us to host here the first Africa Life Forum.

01:31:22.920 I think it's beautiful to be able to see the fighters, the fighters in this room, fighters for humanity, because in a very real way, you're the last man standing.

01:31:36.340 And it's a great weight on your shoulders, but it's the weight of the cross of Christ.

01:31:44.300 And we are here to do everything we can to support you in being that holder of Christ's truth for the whole wide world right now.

01:31:56.540 And I hope and pray that, Charles, you are right, that the rest of the world will find their soul here in the African soil so that we might go back to our own lands and once again teach the truth of Christ.

01:32:12.500 This is the only way, not only to eternal salvation, which we all know it is, but it's also the only way to human flourishing.

01:32:20.100 It's the only way to get to a place where life is valued and the family is what it really is, the building block of all society.

01:32:30.300 So I want to thank you all for participating.

01:32:33.060 I want to thank you all for watching.

01:32:35.460 May God bless you.

01:32:37.440 And as we always say at LiveSite, we'll see you next time.

01:32:42.500 Hi, everyone.

01:32:51.260 This is John Henry Weston.

01:32:52.420 We hope you enjoyed this program.

01:32:54.000 To see more like it, be sure to hit the subscribe button below to get all the latest content from LiveSite News.

01:32:59.560 Check the links in the description to read more and connect with us on social media so that you can stay up to date with all the latest life, family, faith, and freedom news.

01:33:07.860 Thanks for watching and may God bless you.

The John-Henry Westen Show - January 10, 2024

African leaders reject Biden's anti-family neo-colonialism： Africa Life Forum

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