Members of Kenya’s Rastafari community held a weekly gathering in Nairobi’s Kibera neighbourhood where they sang religious hymns and consumed marijuana as part of their spiritual practice. The gathering occurred several days after a Kenyan court dismissed a petition seeking to decriminalize marijuana use for Rastafarians on grounds of religious freedom.
Rastafari is an Afrocentric religion that emerged in the 1930s within Jamaican communities following the coronation of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I. Adherents believe Selassie I is the messiah and God incarnate, and that Black people have been oppressed by what they term “Babylon,” a metaphor for Western capitalism and imperialism. The faith gained global prominence through reggae music and has attracted followers across multiple continents. Kenya’s courts formally recognized Rastafari as a legally protected religion in 2019.
Followers of the faith believe that cannabis consumption is a sacrament that facilitates meditative states and deeper connection with the divine. The Rastafari Society of Kenya filed a court petition in 2021 seeking either exemption from drug laws for religious practitioners or the creation of a legal framework permitting sacramental use. The petition argued that existing marijuana laws violated adherents’ rights to religious freedom and equality. The court rejected the petition on grounds that the society failed to demonstrate the law unconstitutionally violated Rastafarians’ rights.
Members expressed frustration with the court’s decision and their broader status in Kenyan society. Rastafarian leaders indicated they plan to appeal to a higher court and renewed calls for decriminalization. Some jurisdictions have taken different approaches; Antigua and Barbuda approved cannabis cultivation and use by Rastafarians in 2023. The exact size of Kenya’s Rastafarian population remains undocumented.
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