Zambia’s President, Edgar Lungu, has said he wants the U.S. Ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the country for sentencing a gay couple to 15 years in jail for having a consensual relationship.
In an interview on Sunday, the president said: “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. We want him gone.”
Last month, U.S. Ambassador, Daniel Foote, had said he was “personally horrified” after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider laws that punish minority groups.
“We are saying no to homosexuality. 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,” Lungu said in comments broadcast by Sky News earlier this month.
