Tanzania said Friday that it would not comply with demands from donors to soften its opposition to LGBT rights.
According to NBC News, Finance Minister Philip Mpango told officials that Tanzania could not comply with demands from donors to tolerate the LGBT community as a condition for aid.
“[T]here is no way,” he said, calling the request “intolerable.”
Last month, Denmark, Tanzania’s second-largest donor, said that it would withhold $10 million in aid to Tanzania. Officials cited “unacceptable homophobic comments” in announcing the decision.
The news came after the regional governor of Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, asked the public to help identify people suspected of being gay.
Gay sex is illegal in Tanzania, where violators face up to 30 years in prison.
Citing “the deterioration of the human rights and rule of law situation” in Tanzania, the European Union recalled its envoy in the East African nation.
World Bank officials recently announced that they had canceled a $300 million loan to Tanzania. Officials said that the decision was based on the nation making it a crime to question official statistics.
by Carlos Santoscoy
Source – On Top Magazine
