Members of the Rastafari religious movement in Kenya are organizing efforts to decriminalize marijuana following a court ruling earlier in the month that rejected their petition for exemption from drug laws based on religious grounds.
Rastafari is an Afrocentric religion and social movement that adherents believe centers on the veneration of the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I as the messiah and God incarnate. The movement emerged in the 1930s among Afro-Jamaican communities and gained global prominence through reggae music. Followers adopt spiritual practices including dreadlocks and plant-based diets as part of what they call “livity,” or righteous natural living. Within the faith, cannabis is considered a sacrament that practitioners believe facilitates meditation and spiritual connection.
The Rastafari Society of Kenya filed the legal petition in 2021 seeking either exemption from marijuana prosecution or a government-created legal framework permitting the practice for religious observance. The court dismissed the petition, determining that the society had failed to demonstrate the law unconstitutionally violated practitioners’ rights. Members of the faith have announced plans to appeal the decision to a higher court.
Followers interviewed described themselves as a marginalized minority within Kenya whose cultural practices face social stigma. Some noted that in 2019, a Kenyan court recognized Rastafari as a legally protected religion following a case involving discrimination against a student expelled for wearing dreadlocks. In 2023, the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda approved allowing Rastafarians to cultivate and use cannabis legally, providing a precedent for decriminalization elsewhere.
Rastafarians emphasize their efforts to advocate for their religious rights and cultural preservation, characterizing their movement as promoting return to African roots and equality across all people.
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