this is d.w. news africa coming up in the next 15 minutes it's not ok to be game saves kenya's high cost of build for kenya l g b t activist says 3 judges reject a bid to strike down goals which criminalize homosexuality saying the band does not contravene basic rights in the kenyan constitution. and eritrea marks 28 years since gaining independence from neighboring ethiopia will meet some young eritreans who fled what they see is a brutal dictatorship. i'm christine wonderwall come to news africa i'm glad you tuned in kenya's high court has unanimously refused to strike down laws which criminalize gay 6 in

a packed courtroom the 3 justices justify their decision say the fishes had failed to prove that the provisions are discriminatory now kenyan bt activists brought the case all doing that the kenyan constitution forbids discrimination directly or indirectly against any person on any ground law dates back to the british colonial era and makes homosexual acts punishable with up to 14 years in prison now one of those the petition is is l g b t activists. she joins me now from nairobi welcome to d.w. africa we were you a present in that courtroom just your reaction to the decision today. ok hello christine. i'll creative's disappointed about the decision that was made today in the courtroom. the hearing we're having was about basically

security as well g p t q you know community and in our society. we live under constant threat if not actual violence over there and and there are cultural ng if it went away would have been able to give us some sense of security in that it would have invalidated attacks on our parts and carried out in the belief that we are somehow wrong and. contrary to the law of man and of nature. so the fact that you didn't go our way was incredibly disappointing incredibly discouraging and. something i really didn't hope to see right. now we are what does this mean for the l.g.b. see community in kenya and perhaps address the issue of homophobia in the country. it's not just something that needs to be tackled from a legal perspective is it but in broad society how reflective is this judgment of what kenyan society thinks about l g b t community.

well which means for the l g b t community is that we have to keep fighting we have to keep going and. we have to keep occupying our space and showing people are humanity so that they understand that we are just like they are that we are equal in our humanity we are the same and we are no real threats to them just by being who we are. when it comes to condemn society there is a certain sense of homophobia like i said it's a very practical community so. this idea of queerness of being of being different. elicits your notice and in many in many situations you are threatened because they do try to. it's not something that's normal so it's a threat they feel like they feel threatened by our presence because it's so

foreign to them and so that's that's a threat that we receive from society in that they try to control us in that sense . ok that's. the activist we teach here in nairobi thank you. thank you. eritrea is celebrating 28 years off nationhood today the east african country gained its independence off to a 30 year long war with forces from neighboring ethiopia and that ended in 1901 but the 2 sides only signed a peace deal last year peace all too often eritrea the chance to rebuild but human rights watch says the record remains one of the worst in the world. now eritrea is a one party state and it's only had one president who's ruled the country since independence in 1903 is say as of waking is a form of freedom fighter he presents himself as

a modest man but stands accused of severe human rights violations his country has never held elections has no constitution no official budget and 0 press wheaton's eritrea is also one of the world's poorest countries and every citizen is compelled to do a form of national service for a minimum wage and sometimes forget is. the best and a brutal government all the reasons that a 5th of all eritrean citizens live abroad that means the small country of 5000000 makes one of africa's biggest migrant group in the world to be made to community in berlin. 6 o'clock in the morning and little head is on his way to the christian orthodox eritrean service at prince philip was church. a place of serenity and a reminder of home for the 29 year old refugee who hasn't been in his birth control for more than 9 years. in mind of how much. back home when i was

young my father always took me and my family to church here i get to meet all my eritrean friends and. after a hard week at work i come here at the weekend and that does me good opening the screen here i want this for those. who is one of 60000 eritreans living in germany many of them fled a brutal military dictatorship back home in church just like these are crucial meeting points about half of the area trains abroad are christian. the service is all over new helps tidy up then heads home to a refugee center which is about 2 hours away by bus. on the way together with his friend he tells us his escape story. as month one 1st of all from eritrea to ethiopia. sudan from medicine down one food on sit down

to egypt. to give nothing from egypt to israel on this and about from israel to rwanda from rwanda to uganda after uganda juba in south sudan from sudan to libya from libya to italy and then to germany. yeah germany. way around the world wasn't something he wanted. i had no choice because every trade is ruled by a brutal dictator and this is my escape cost me years of my life because i couldn't go to school last study. out. and brutality was even waiting after a day to escape from eritrea. deepen. the boat. and they would do this every trail as frequent internet bans mean more. often can't even get in touch with their

families back home to check up on how things are going. and the ones that insist in the. this why they want. these things that they want to know the people in this human institution these 2 for much money i call my family on the phone now and again. but i don't talk about politics so i dictated to them with. a. little faith that there will be a regime change in eritrea any time soon he hopes that germany will not close the door on him. for more insight on the country often shrouded in mystery eritrean born journalist mckernan miska joins me now and i thank you so much for coming on today we were talking about eritrea celebrating 28 years of independence what does the country have to show for it. well you know 28 years has been it's was

a very. concentrated period of. you know there is fans paid a lot of sacrifice to get to this where they are and during the 28 years air tran's tried to rebuild the country. and the consequence has been people who went back because there's there was a kind of a vision it wasn't a country but it was a vision which people were fighting for and apparently. with it he appeared in 1908. brought in new conflicts into the neighboring regions and a but also divided society between those who were you know like very patriotic and others who were looking for more peaceful. period and was economic prosperity so and this this

conflict has been. one of the major issues in the air tran society towards new prosperity ok so the relationship with with with neighboring ethiopia but with since had a new prime minister. made who's extended a warm hand to eritrea how has that changed the dynamics. changed a lot because the conflict between ethiopia and eritrea was not solved for many reasons because. the people of he'll try and utopian nor the world community knew exactly the reasons of the conflict it was each person and food was it's a broader conflict whatsoever i saw that was one of the major reason why we didn't you know like come up with a new solution so a new the new leadership in ethiopia brought a new dynamic and it was a you know starts to go towards their leadership and like. you know or for a brand new piece but we're still talking about

a country that young people often. in his jones we are appalled to see young people running away from this country calling at the need to ship. a brutal dictatorship and why is that the case and how is this regime able to stay intact well one of the major problem in eritrea was the militarization of the society because eritreans when there are when they finish the school when they're 18 years old. to go for the military service which is a consensus saw people go actually voluntarily to enter service but. the law is not implemented because. the low ses 18 months is an obligation but most of the young people stay for more than 1015 years in military service so most of the people do not have their perspectives how to continue with their lives and how to have

a qualification for the labor market etc to respond to most of the people are actually without any perspectives which has any consequence to leave the country and look for better perspectives i'll say the country. ok that's eric and orange and list. miskin the thank you for your insight. and that is we will leave it to for deed obvious if they are you can catch one all stories on our website and facebook page have a lovely weekend and see you next time i put out. it's

all happening touch a bit of. your linked news from africa the world your links to exceptionally stories and discussions continue in the country debuts buffeting program tonight from one germany is a busy time while woodside deducted comes much africa come join us on facebook and d.-w. africa. europe's big idea but what's become of it and what will it look like tomorrow. d.w. gets ready for an in-depth look at the european elections asking the questions that matter to her and voters hopes for the current.