Rastafari Society of Kenya Files Appeal Against High Court Ruling on Sacramental Cannabis
ABOLISH CANNABIS PROHIBITION
NAIROBI — The Rastafari Society of Kenya (RSK) and petitioner Mwendwa Wambua, known as Ras Prophet, have filed a Notice of Appeal against the High Court’s July 15 dismissal of their petition to legalize cannabis for religious use. The notice, lodged under Rule 77 of the Court of Appeal Rules, names the Attorney General and the Kenya Law Reform Commission as respondents, with the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) as interested party. The original petition, amended in May 2021, had been dismissed in its entirety by Justice Bahati Mwamuye, with each side left to bear its own costs.
The appeal moves the case from the High Court to the Court of Appeal, continuing a legal effort that has spanned roughly five years since the amended petition was filed. Mwamuye’s July ruling had held that Kenya’s narcotics laws do not violate Rastafarians’ constitutional right to freedom of religion, while acknowledging that an exemption would require a distinct constitutional and legal foundation the petitioners had not established — and calling separately for a national debate on drug policy. The society’s legal team, Sheria Mtaani na Shadrack Wambui, is proceeding to serve formal notice on the Attorney General’s office, the Law Reform Commission, and NACADA as the case advances to its next stage.
The appeal signals that the Rastafari community in Kenya intends to press the constitutional question further rather than wait on the legislative process Mwamuye invited. Its outcome will help determine whether East Africa’s courts, rather than parliaments, become the venue where sacramental cannabis recognition is decided — a path distinct from the legislative routes taken in Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica.
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