Right here’s the abstract because the Kenyan Rastafarian group anticipate the Excessive Court docket resolution
The movies together with one of the affected person and satisfying witness depositions I’ve ever seen are required viewing.
Abstract
Members of the Rastafarian Society of Kenya (RSK) will know on Could 28, 2026, whether or not the Kenyan Excessive Court docket will enable using hashish for religious functions.
This pending judgment follows years of authorized battles by the group to decriminalize hashish (bhang) and have it acknowledged as a “holy herb” central to their non secular apply.
Present Case Standing (2026)
The constitutional petition, initially filed in 2021, has lately concluded its newest spherical of hearings on the Milimani Legislation Courts in Nairobi.
- Closing Judgment Date: Set for Could 28, 2026, at 2:00 PM.
- Presiding Decide: Justice Bahati Mwamuye.
- Key Authorized Argument: The RSK argues that present drug legal guidelines (Narcotic Medicine and Psychotropic Substances Management Act) violate their constitutional rights to freedom of faith, dignity, privateness, and equality.
- Proof Dispute: In February 2026, the court docket denied a request by Rastafarians to current uncooked hashish seeds as proof, ruling that the court docket can not facilitate the trafficking of prohibited substances. As a substitute, the choose admitted digital proof like images and movies.
- State Opposition: The Legal professional Common and the Nationwide Authority for the Marketing campaign In opposition to Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) oppose the petition, citing public well being issues and the potential for drug abuse.
Landmark 2019 Precedent
This present battle follows a major 2019 victory for the group:
- The “Dreadlocks” Case: The Excessive Court docket dominated {that a} faculty’s resolution to expel a pupil for carrying rastas (dreadlocks) was unconstitutional.
- Authorized Recognition: On this 2019 judgment, Decide Chacha Mwita formally declared Rastafarianism a faith in Kenya, deserving of constitutional safety.
What the Neighborhood is Searching for
The Rastafarian Society of Kenya is particularly asking the court docket to:
- Acknowledge hashish as a sacrament for religious “reasoning” classes.
- Enable restricted cultivation and use for adults over 18 for non secular functions.
- Cease what they describe as “focused persecution” and arbitrary arrests of their members by police.
Media Reviews
Nacada joins court docket battle on Rastafarian hashish use
[PHOTOS] Rastafari society in court docket over criminalisation of bhang
Court docket declines to confess bhang as proof in Rastafari society case
BBC Information Pidgin: Rastafarian society of Kenya wan make court docket legalise Indian hemp sake of ‘religious objective’
https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/media-57159819
We’ve been blocked from bringing hashish seeds in court docket, Rastafarians lament
https://www.the-star.co.ke/information/2026-02-04-security-bars-cannabis-seeds-in-rastafari-case
HIGH COURT VIDEOS
Finest testimony ever?
Milimani Legislation Courts when Rastafari witness Reuben Abasa Nyangola took the stand throughout a Excessive Court docket listening to difficult Kenya’s criminalization of hashish. Showing earlier than Justice Bahati Mwamuye,
Abasa launched himself as a Rastafari religious practitioner, conventional medical practitioner and diviner, and proceeded to clarify the non secular and religious significance of marijuana throughout the Rastafari motion.
Throughout cross-examination, the witness corrected attorneys on a number of features of the religion and defined that hashish is utilized in rituals, meditation and reasoning classes amongst members of the group.
He instructed the court docket that the herb is consumed by way of a chalice for religious and medicinal functions and argued that, when correctly understood, it varieties an vital a part of Rastafari apply because the court docket considers whether or not Kenya’s drug legal guidelines violate constitutional protections on freedom of faith.
Excessive Court docket to Rule Whether or not Criminalizing Marijuana Violates Rastafarian Non secular Rights in Could
The Excessive Court docket has set Could 28, 2026 for judgment in a petition filed by members of the Rastafarian group difficult the criminalization of marijuana in Kenya. The case, heard earlier than Justice Bahati Mwamuye on the Milimani Legislation Courts, questions whether or not Kenya’s drug legal guidelines violate constitutional protections on freedom of faith.
Witnesses instructed the court docket they’ve confronted years of harassment, stigmatization and searches by safety officers resulting from their religion and affiliation with hashish. Members of the foyer group Sheria Mtaani say the petition, which has been in court docket for about six years, will decide whether or not Rastafarians can legally use hashish as a part of their non secular apply.
The court docket may even study whether or not the group’s rights have been violated by way of enforcement of the 1994 drug legislation. Judgment shall be delivered on Could 28 after events spotlight their submissions on Could 6.
Lawyer Omari Defends Use of Marijuana by the Rastafari Neighborhood says its ’Holy Herb’
Lawyer Danstan Omari has defended the rights of the Rastafari motion to apply their faith, together with using Hashish, following court docket proceedings on the Milimani Legislation Courts earlier than Justice Bahati Mwamuye. Omari mentioned the case, which has been in court docket for greater than six years, is supported by Sheria Mtaani, a foyer group of over 40 attorneys offering free authorized illustration to marginalized communities.
In the course of the listening to, the petitioners offered witnesses who spoke about alleged harassment and discrimination confronted by Rastafarians below Kenya’s drug legal guidelines. The court docket has now set *Could 28, 2026* because the date for judgment, in a choice that would decide whether or not Rastafarians can legally use marijuana as a part of their non secular practices in Kenya.
