Nairobi — Religious leaders in Mombasa yesterday warned the Government against allowing gay marriages in Kenya.

The leaders, who spoke to the East African Standard, said homosexuality was unacceptable and that the Government should not even contemplate allowing unions between gay couples.

They gave the warning after an announcement that Britain may allow marriages among gay couples as announced by that country's Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, Jacqui Smith.

The religious leaders accused their British counterparts of sacrificing the spiritual well-being of their flock in order to "fit into popular culture and modern psychology".

Under the new arrangement, same-sex couples would have joint rights to pensions, death benefits and alimony.

The couples would make a formal legal commitments to each other by registering their relationship as a "Civil Partnership."

Gay couples would also have the option of taking parental responsibility for each other's children and might be obliged to maintain each other financially, the Government said.

"Both the Bible and Koran are clear on this matter. It was always meant to be an Adam and Eve affair and that is as it should be," Sheikh Mohammed Dor, the Secretary-General of the Council of Imam Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) said.

Dor, who is also a Narc nominated councillor, warned that the Government would not cope with the consequences of legalising such relationships and that it would "face the full wrath of God in the matter."

The cleric attributed Britain's openness towards "unnatural sexual behaviour" to lack of a sound religious system and what he termed the society's "misunderstanding of the places of God and man in a free society."

Mombasa Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) Bishop Julius Kalu condemned the move by the British Government, adding that the Church in that country had let the Government have its way " in a clearly wrong and heretical issue."

"The Church in England is going astray. By and by, we keep getting the impression that it is being influenced by the world in its decisions instead of matters being the other way round. It is totally wrong. I would suggest that they meet and reconsider their mission in this world," he said.

Kalu hinted that the Anglican Communion in Kenya may reconsider its ties with its parent Church in England over the matter, but maintained that the decision is subject to a resolution by the Provincial Synod, scheduled to meet today.