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Kenneth Gachie
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Burkina Fasoโs government has passed a law banning homosexuality, with those found guilty facing two to five years in prison, according to the state broadcaster.
The draft law was unanimously passed on Monday by 71 unelected members of the countryโs transitional government, which has been in place since the military seized power under the leadership of the now President Ibrahim Traore, after two coups in 2022.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced the law on national broadcaster RTB and said those guilty would also face fines along with serving prison time.
"If a person is a perpetrator of homosexual or similar practices, all the bizarre behaviour, they will go before the judge,โ he said, adding that foreign nationals would be deported under the law.
The new law is expected to go into effect immediately.
The latest law is part of Burkina Fasoโs wider reform of family and citizenship legislation and will be โpopularised through an awareness campaignโ, according to officials.
Burkina Faso joins the list of more than half of Africaโs 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality, with the penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty.
The laws, though criticised abroad, enjoy popularity in the countries where locals and officials have criticised homosexuality as behaviour imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
Burkina Faso has been run by the military following a coup in 2022 that the soldiers said was to stabilise the country amid a worsening security crisis and provide better governance.
Rights group, however, accuse the junta of clamping down on human rights with the rampant arrest and military conscription of critics.
Since coming to power in September 2022 after Burkina Faso's second coup that year, the junta leader Traore has also positioned himself as a pan-African leader with rhetoric of independence from the West โ a message that often resonates with Africa's young population.
ยฉCitizen Digital, Kenya
Continue reading...
- The latest law is part of Burkina Fasoโs wider reform of family and citizenship legislation and will be โpopularised through an awareness campaignโ, according to officials.
Burkina Fasoโs government has passed a law banning homosexuality, with those found guilty facing two to five years in prison, according to the state broadcaster.
The draft law was unanimously passed on Monday by 71 unelected members of the countryโs transitional government, which has been in place since the military seized power under the leadership of the now President Ibrahim Traore, after two coups in 2022.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced the law on national broadcaster RTB and said those guilty would also face fines along with serving prison time.
"If a person is a perpetrator of homosexual or similar practices, all the bizarre behaviour, they will go before the judge,โ he said, adding that foreign nationals would be deported under the law.
The new law is expected to go into effect immediately.
The latest law is part of Burkina Fasoโs wider reform of family and citizenship legislation and will be โpopularised through an awareness campaignโ, according to officials.
Burkina Faso joins the list of more than half of Africaโs 54 countries that have laws banning homosexuality, with the penalties ranging from several years in prison to the death penalty.
The laws, though criticised abroad, enjoy popularity in the countries where locals and officials have criticised homosexuality as behaviour imported from abroad and not a sexual orientation.
Burkina Faso has been run by the military following a coup in 2022 that the soldiers said was to stabilise the country amid a worsening security crisis and provide better governance.
Rights group, however, accuse the junta of clamping down on human rights with the rampant arrest and military conscription of critics.
Since coming to power in September 2022 after Burkina Faso's second coup that year, the junta leader Traore has also positioned himself as a pan-African leader with rhetoric of independence from the West โ a message that often resonates with Africa's young population.
ยฉCitizen Digital, Kenya
Continue reading...
