A senior Nandi County official has urged collective action to tackle what she described as an increase in same-sex relationships in the county, The Star, Kenya reports. Dr Lydia Kosgey, the county's Deputy Secretary, made the call during an address at the Eliud Kipchoge Stadium in Kapsabet town on Thursday. According to the outlet, she said existing figures indicate the cases have become widespread.
"We are talking about cases of male and male, or female and female relationships. It is now rampant in our county, offices, churches and the community," Kosgey said, as quoted by The Star, Kenya.
She said the county is still carrying out research to determine why the numbers are rising. "We have statistics which speak to that, and we are still doing research to establish why these cases are so rampant in the community," she said.
Why it matters
The remarks put a county-level spotlight on a subject that remains legally and socially contested in Kenya, where same-sex relations are criminalised. The Star, Kenya reports that Kosgey framed the issue as one affecting institutions beyond private life — naming offices, places of worship and the wider community — and linked it to a broader child-protection message ahead of the long school holidays.
Preliminary findings point to substance abuse and curiosity
According to the outlet, Kosgey said the research is intended to explain why people are moving away from what she called the norm. Early indications, she said, suggest drug and substance abuse and curiosity — a desire to explore the unfamiliar — as contributing factors.
She did not provide the underlying statistics during the address, and The Star, Kenya did not publish specific figures. The county's research is described as ongoing, meaning no final findings have been made public.
Kosgey also directed her message to parents, asking them to keep a close watch on their children over the long school break. She warned that young people could be targeted by those seeking to draw them into such relationships.
"Let us embrace our children and love them so that they do not end up in the hands of those out to lure them into these kinds of relationships," she said, according to The Star, Kenya.
She further encouraged parents to remain present in their children's lives through the Christmas holiday to reduce the risk of drug abuse.
GBV clinic opened at Kapsabet referral hospital
In the same report, Abigael Jepkoech, who coordinates gender-based violence matters in Nandi County, said the county government has set up a dedicated GBV clinic at Kapsabet County Referral Hospital in response to rising cases. The facility, she said, provides counselling and psychosocial support at no cost.
"We have professional counsellors, and we examine the history of the patients before offering free psychotherapy," Jepkoech said.
She added that the clinic also serves teen mothers without charge, citing an increase in teenage pregnancies linked to illicit relationships. The Star, Kenya did not provide patient numbers or a timeline for the clinic's establishment.
The county's research into the reported rise in same-sex relationships has not been given a completion date, and no further details on its methodology or scope were disclosed.
