Witch Hunt for Gays in Africa

The anti-gay witch hunts for gays in Eastern Africa seem to be escalating. Between the lunatic anti-gay conference in Uganda featuring certifiable fruit loop Scott Lively and now statements by Zambian Vice President George Kunda that citizens should report gays to the law enforcement agencies, half the continent seems to have gone insane. With the brutal poverty, low levels of medical care, frequent inter-tribal killings, hunting down gays and/or forcing them into reparative therapy ought to rank far down the list of priorities for government concern. In my view, this cynical attack on gays is fueled by the desire of government officials to distract attention form the dismal failures of their regimes or to find scape goats for the over all basket case nature of their countries. In the case of Zambia, here are some grime statistics:

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About 68% of Zambians live below the recognised national poverty line with rural poverty rates standing at about 78% and urban rates of 53%. Per capita annual incomes are currently at about one-half their levels at independence and, at $395, place the country among the world's poorest nations. Social indicators continue to decline, particularly in measurements of life expectancy at birth (about 40.9 years) and maternal mortality (830 per 100,000 pregnancies)

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Based on this data, homosexuality is definitely the least of the country's problems. Of course, one must also add to the mix the desire of professional Christians - Pentecostals have been increasing in numbers in recent years - to rake in money or use scare tactics to strengthen their power over a largely poorly educated population. It is truly a sad state of affairs. Here are some highlights on the craziness from Zambia:

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24 March 2009: Vice president George Kunda on Friday charged in parliament that the government was aware of some people who had married to hide their homosexual activities. Answering a question from Chadiza MMD member of parliament Allan Mbewe during the vice president’s question and answer session, on what government was doing to curb homosexuality in the country, vice-president Kunda said the laws available were stiff enough to punish such people.

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“Zambia is a Christian nation and it shall continue to be so because it is part of our constitution. And acts such as homosexuality are not part of the Christian norm. In 2005, this house passed stiff laws against homosexuality. For people having carnal knowledge of each other against the order of nature the punishment is a minimum of 15 years imprisonment. If you have carnal knowledge of an animal you serve a minimum of 25 years”.

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“If you have information about such people, report them to the law enforcement agencies. There are also some people who are bisexual and they marry to cover up their activities, but at the end of the day we know them,”