Rastafarians Lose Cannabis Worship Case as Judge Calls for National Bhang Debate

Kenya’s High Court has dismissed a landmark petition seeking to exempt Rastafarians from prosecution for using cannabis during religious worship.

Yet the judgement ends with an unusual invitation.

Justice Bahati Mwamuye says Kenya should begin an honest national conversation about whether its cannabis policy still reflects modern realities.

The ruling leaves Kenya’s cannabis laws firmly intact. Possession, cultivation, and use remain criminal offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act.

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Nevertheless, the court openly questioned whether scarce public resources should continue targeting small-scale cannabis users instead of violent criminals.

The case was filed by the Rastafari Society of Kenya, its spokesperson Mwendwa Wambua, popularly known as Ras Prophet, and another petitioner.

Sacred Sacrament

They insisted cannabis is a sacred sacrament central to Rastafari worship.

They sought a narrow exemption allowing private religious use inside homes and designated tabernacles, not wholesale legalisation.

They argued the law violated constitutional guarantees protecting religious freedom, privacy, dignity, equality and freedom of association.

Their lawyers urged the court to follow constitutional decisions from South Africa recognising cannabis use within evolving rights jurisprudence.

The Attorney General and the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse fought the petition vigorously.

They maintained cannabis prohibition protects public health and public safety while fulfilling Kenya’s international drug-control obligations.

Justice Mwamuye agreed.

“The Petitioners have not discharged the burden of proving” that the challenged legal provisions violate constitutional rights, he ruled before dismissing the case entirely.

The judge’s reasoning unfolded through several distinct constitutional questions.

First, he found the petitioners had approached the court too soon.

Court Burns Rasta Cannabis Bid:

High Court has dismissed a petition filed by members of the Rastafarian Society of Kenya seeking to legalise the use of cannabis (bhang) for religious purposes in Kenya.#NTVTonight @MichelleNgele_ pic.twitter.com/rIixFZEtc1

— NTV Kenya (@ntvkenya) July 15, 2026

The judgement says they failed to exhaust licensing and exemption mechanisms already provided under existing narcotics legislation before seeking constitutional intervention.

That omission, the court held, rendered the petition premature.

Rastafari Recognition

Second, the court made an important constitutional finding favouring the petitioners.

Justice Mwamuye unequivocally recognised Rastafari as a religion deserving protection under Article 32 of the Constitution.

That issue, he said, was no longer genuinely contestable.

However, the petition faltered on another crucial question.

The judge found the petitioners produced inconsistent evidence about cannabis itself. Some witnesses described it as indispensable to worship.

Others conceded Rastafarians could pray without cannabis and acknowledged some adherents never used it at all.

Those admissions proved decisive.

“The Petitioners’ own witnesses admitted that the use of cannabis is not mandatory,” Justice Mwamuye observed, concluding cannabis represented “a preferred mode of worship, not a requirement of the faith.”

The court further held that Kenya’s narcotics law applies equally to everyone. It was enacted to protect public health rather than target any religion.

Consequently, any limitation upon religious freedom was reasonable and constitutionally justified under Article 24.

NACADA had presented evidence linking cannabis to dependency, impaired cognition, and mental health disorders.

The agency also warned that creating religious exemptions could become an enforcement nightmare and create opportunities for traffickers masquerading as worshippers.

Yet the judgement became most striking after the legal analysis ended.

Justice Mwamuye acknowledged cannabis has become deeply embedded within Kenyan society.

National Question

Products containing cannabinoids, he noted, are openly sold in mainstream outlets.

Cannabis references increasingly appear across music, popular culture, and even public transport.

“This is not a question for the Rastafarian community only,” the judge wrote.

“It is a national question that cuts across the entire spectrum of our society.”

Without endorsing legalisation, he questioned whether police and prosecutors should continue spending limited resources pursuing people possessing small amounts of cannabis while confronting robberies, sexual offences and violent crime.

“The status quo appears untenable,” he concluded.

Outside Milimani Law Courts, Rastafarians protested the decision through drumming, chants, and public demonstrations.

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Their lawyer, Shadrack Wambui, announced the community would challenge the ruling before the Court of Appeal.

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