Home Current News Zambia Wants U.S. Ambassador Out for Defending Gay Couple

Zambia Wants U.S. Ambassador Out for Defending Gay Couple

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Zambia Wants U.S. Ambassador Out for Defending Gay Couple(Bloomberg) — Zambian President Edgar Lungu wants the U.S. ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the African state for sentencing a gay couple to 15 years behind bars for having a consensual relationship.“We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don’t want such people in our midst,” Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. “We want him gone.”U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was “personally horrified” after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups. The move was particularly disturbing as “government officials can steal millions of public dollars without prosecution,” Foote said.The U.S. provides $500 million in aid to Zambia yearly, according to Foote.“We are saying no to homosexuality,” Lungu said in comments broadcast by Sky News earlier this month. “When you are tying it to aid, if that is how you are going to bring your aid, then I’m afraid the west can leave us alone in our poverty. And we’ll continue scrounging and struggling.”The State Department didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.Read More: U.S. Rebukes Zambia for Jailing Two Men for Homosexuality(Updates with envoy’s comments from third paragraph)To contact the reporters on this story: Taonga Clifford Mitimingi in Lusaka at [email protected];Matthew Hill in Maputo at [email protected] contact the editors responsible for this story: Sebastian Tong at [email protected], Helen Nyambura, Eric OmbokFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

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