Missed lifelong opportunities. Discriminated, stigmatized and isolated, even by the government that has constitutionally sworn to uphold the rule of law, the intersex community in the country is pushing for more recognition, justice and protection of their rights.
Well, they are milestones, but the 2019 inclusion of intersex persons in the country’s population census, and the February 2022 swearing in of Dr. Dennis Wamalwa as the first intersex Kenyan to occupy a high-ranking public office, are not enough.
For instance, what’s so difficult for the government changing the sex markers for the intersex community so that they can change their names for those sitting for their examinations as they are transitioning to another level?
Betty Nkirote, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and currently working at Katiba Institute expresses concern that this group of Kenyans is missing so many opportunities; from their pursuit for education, to healthcare services, social protection and economic participation. And this is just because of their lack of proper legal identification.
“This is unnecessary as the intersex people are also human beings, like anybody else and for this matter, Kenyans who should be fully protected by the law of the country,” Nkirote argues.
She referred to Article 21 of the constitution, which mandates the state to observe, protect, promote, and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights for all vulnerable groups.
She spoke to journalists during a strategy meeting hosted by Hivos on Petition 492 of 2025, a case where human rights advocates are challenging the violations of the rights of intersex persons by the state and its agents.
“The main aim of the meeting today is to bring some of the petitioners and community members as well as partners up to speed with the case and what has happened so far in court,” she said.
The human rights advocates and other interested parties, also used the Hivos-meeting as a platform to discuss the strategic positioning moving forward on how the case will be litigated.
Hivos is an international development organization that helps build social movements that strive for just, inclusive and sustainable societies.
“Delays in enacting specific laws and providing clear guidelines for issues like medical treatment and birth registration have led to discrimination, political exclusion, and violations of dignity failure by the state,” argued Nkirote.
Despite some positive steps, she noted that the government is failing to meet its constitutional duty to protect the intersex community, which is considered a vulnerable group.
The inclusion of the intersex persons in the 2019 population census made Kenya the first African country to do so. According to the census, Kenya officially has 1,524 recorded intersex persons. However, the numbers are predicted to be higher suspiciously due to the social and cultural stigma involved.
Dr. Wamalwa’s swearing-in as the first openly confessed intersex person Commissioner of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), was described as groundbreaking.
He became the first intersex Kenyan to occupy a high-ranking public office, more so a state agency mandated to facilitate human rights norms and standards in the country.
A00head of December 10’s wrap for the 16 days of Activism, It is also the first time ever that an intersex person has occupied an eminent human rights office in the world.
But, fast forward, despite those fundamental gains, the current case has identified numerous legal gaps that call for fixing. Petition 492 of 2025, also known as E492 of 2025, is a significant Kenyan court case that seeks to compel the government to recognize and protect the fundamental rights of over 1,000 intersex persons.
“The main problem really or what I would say is the main concern in this petition is the failure by the state in its obligations and under Article 21 of the constitution, the state has a legal obligation to promote, protect, respect, observe and fulfill the rights and fundamental freedoms.
“When you look at the issues arising from this case, you can clearly tell that the state has failed in its obligation to enact a legal legislative framework or legal policies to regulate or to govern matters relating to intersex persons,” said Nkirote, giving an example where intersex persons have issues with changing their names, as well as the sex markers.
Some of them are in school and they need to sit for national examinations. “But the name that was given at birth and the gender, and the sex market are either marked female or male,” she noted.
The challenge is then more pronounced, when their current anatomical structures do not match what is in their birth certificate or what is in their identification document.
Subsequently, when they apply for change of name or change of sex marker, the government doesn’t have any law or any policies regulating how that process is to be undertaken.
And further, for those born with complications or, medical conditions that require urgent attention, there’s a gap in the law that requires legal measures to provide for interventions to get them out of the life-threatening situations that some of them were born with.
And nobody could give a clearer picture than Haniel Samuel Chirati, who was raised up as a girl. (1:00) For example, as myself, I was raised as a girl, but in reality, he had pronounced masculine features.
“So, you will find that everything I had was a girl. But now, the person you see right now, is a different one.
“I remember when I went to the hospital, I wanted to get a scan to see exactly what I was carrying, but even the doctors were shocked,” Chirati said.
The examination results showed a person who had other things that were not normal. “They examined me and found that I was not 100% like a woman,” noted Chirati, also co-founder of Kenya Intersex Person Consortium, a network of Kenyan-led intersex organizations.
Chirati recollects that the medics told him he had ovaries that couldn’t be seen, and referred him for another scan. He is yet to go.
“I’m still thinking about that scan because I have to go to the ICU again,” Chirati said.
On identification while searching for employment, he decried the situation where getting an ID card is the first challenge, because if a person was identified as a female, it be difficult to get a job.
“The challenge therefore, starts when you are a child, and so, when you become older you will find that you have problems because you are a different person,” Chirati noted, explaining that it becomes extremely hard for society, and even the parents to understand them.
In its report: “Equal in dignity and rights: promoting the rights of intersex persons in Kenya,” the KNCHR estimates that 1 in 200 or 1 in 300 individuals globally are born with an intersex variation. According to the Commission, the invisibility of the actual number of intersex persons in the country indicates the level and degree of stigma.
As a national human rights institution, the Commission, has had an opportunity to engage on the rights of intersex persons.
According to Cyrus Maweu and Laban Cheruiyot, both deputy directors at KNCHR, legislative gaps continue to exist because of lack of a dedicated framework that provides and operationalises the rights of intersex persons.
And sometimes this becomes difficult for them when handling matters involving this group.
“At times we are at a loss when handling issues regarding intersex persons because you don’t know exactly how to handle their issues, and to what extent you can go, especially when it comes to provision of certain services such as healthcare-related procedures,” Maweu said.
He singled out poor political goodwill as a major bottleneck as political leaders shy away from openly discussing the issue.
He is advocating for the progression of the Intersex Bill of 2020 from the Cabinet to Parliament in order to address some of the legal gaps identified, so that the intersex persons can enjoy inclusivity in all social and economic aspects.
“How do we ensure that now this bill progresses from the Cabinet to Parliament, and that there is a possibility of sailing through?” he posed.
Maweu suggests that there is need for public education about the existence of intersex persons, the challenges that they go through, and the fact that they are human.
So the best that Kenya can do, he said, is to provide for them in the same way that every other person enjoys.
“We cannot deny that they do exist, and if they do, the best that we can do is to provide for them just like we provide for any other person within the country,” Maweu highlighted.
The Commission has had active intervations in various complaints, including intersex persons who were facing some challenges, especially those in correctional facilities. This includes those in police stations.
“I have one case in mind, where an inmate was denied entry to a woman dorm, and they had to be taken back to Kilimani Police Station, where they were being held at the report office,” Maweu revealed, and added, this is because the officers were not able to decide whether to hold the person at the male or female wards.
And Cheruiyot called for intensified advocacy, which the Commission has been doing. He revealed that as a build up to the public participation, which it is advocating for, it met with the Parliamentary Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs.
“We are trying to get Parliament’s buy-in so that we can have this bill see the light of day,” he said.
The advocacy activities have been advocating for protection and promotion of the rights of intersex persons in the country, in order to guarantee the rights that are enshrined in the Constitution for the intersex persons.
The one-day workshop’s goal was to strengthen an ongoing petition currently before the Migori High Court, seeking to compel the Government to fast-track reforms and enact the National Intersex Bill (2023). Although drafted in 2023, the Bill remains stalled, leaving intersex persons without legal recognition, adequate protection, or access to rights and services.
