Posted by layo on 25 Dec 2019 /
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The US has recalled its ambassador to Zambia amid a diplomatic row after he criticised the imprisonment of a gay couple, embassy sources have said.
Last month, Daniel Foote said he was “horrified” that a judge had sentenced the men to 15 years in prison after they were caught having sex in 2017.
The government accused him of trying to dictate policy, and President Edgar Lungu declared him persona non grata.
Zambia is a deeply conservative society where homosexual acts are illegal.
“You cannot ask a government to make a decision at gun point – ‘because we are giving you aid, we want you to do this’ – you can’t,” Zambia’s Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji told the BBC last week.
