Tanzania has threatened to publish a list of gay people who ‘sell their bodies’
Tanzania’s deputy health minister has threatened to publish a list of gay people who are allegedly selling sex online.
Hamisi Kigwangalla allegedly announced the plan as part of a government crack down on “the homosexuality syndicate”.
“I will publish a list of gay people selling their bodies online,” Kigwangalla wrote on Twitter. “Those who think this campaign is a joke are wrong. The government has long arms and it will arrest all those involved quietly.”
“Once arrested they will help us find other,” he insisted.
Homosexual activity is illegal in the country and punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Kigwangalla’s threat is the latest move to restrict the rights of LGBT people in the country.
The plan comes after the country shut down nearly 40 privately run AIDS clinics because they were “promoting” homosexuality.
“We have suspended the provision of HIV and AIDS services at less than 40 drop-in centres for key populations operated by NGOs countrywide after ti was established that the centres were promoting homosexuality, which is against Tanzania’s laws,” health minister Ummy Mwalimu said.
Six months ago, the Government threatened to ban civic groups that were pro-LGBT and deemed harmful to the “culture of Tanzanians”. This threat followed a similar one made in 2016.
Last year in July, a commissioner for the city of Dar es Salaam, Paul Makonda, announced a local crackdown on LGBT people by threatening to arrest those who were openly gay on social media.
Following Makonda’s threat, dozens were detained and forced to have anal exams to confirm their sexuality.
