In June 2014, Ugandan LGBTQIA+ activist, Victor Mukasa, created a Youtube channel, Kuchu TV, which aired between 2014 and 2015. The TV station was used as a platform to give daily updates from within the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, and provided information to activists and advocates working with LGBTQIA asylum seekers in the Camp.

“Kuchu” is a Swahili word roughly translated to mean “queer”. It was adopted by the LGBTQIA+ community who fled Uganda after the signing of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law on 20 December 2013.

At the time, Victor founded the Kuchu Diaspora Alliance (KDA-USA) in the United States, which works to address the needs of LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers. Victor created Kuchu TV as part of the work of the Kuchu Diaspora Alliance.

On 29 June 2014, Kuchu TV aired a 5-part series contextualising the violence perpetrated against LGBTQIA+ residents of the Camp.

About the Kakuma Refugee Camp

The Kakuma Refugee Camp is based in rural Kenya in Turkana County. “Kakumu” means “nowhere” in Swahili. The Camp was established in 1992 to house “The Lost Boys of Sudan”, who were children who escaped the war in Sudan, Somalia and some camps in Ethiopia. The original size of the Camp was estimated to be 12,000. Currently the population is over 200,000 refugees from more than 20 countries. The Camp is often the site of violence as there are ongoing tensions between the impoverished refugees and the local community. This violence is fuelled by the fact that, compared to the wider region, the Kakuma Camp has better health facilities and a higher percentage of children in full-time education, due to the humanitarian aid that the Camp receives from organisations such as the International Rescue Committee.

Following the passing of the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill, a large community of Kuchus fled to the camp. This community is often most affected by the violence as the UNHRC (UN Refugee Agency) and the Kenyan Police Services and Government do not protect the LGBTQIA+ community.