Listen to this articleThe United States has recalled its ambassador to Zambia, Daniel Lewis Foote after he called the imprisonment of a gay couple as “horrifying” and blamed authorities of corruption. Foote is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Trump administration appointed him in 2017. He had issued a strongly worded statement criticizing the 15-year sentences handed down to 2 men for being in a relationship. It is noteworthy that homosexuality is illegal in Zambia. Foote said he was shocked by the venom and hate. He said he had been subjected to since raising the issue. He also threatened to cut U.S aid to Zambia.
The President of Zambia, Edgar Lungu defended his anti-gay stance in an interview with a news outlet. Lungu said, “We know that there could be people who are homosexual in Zambia but we don’t need to promote it. We frown on it, the practice most of us think it’s wrong. It is un-Biblical and un-Christian, and we don’t want it. Even animals don’t do it so why should we be forced to do it? Because we want to be seen to be smart: And to be seen to be civilized and advanced and so on”. Foote also alleged the Zambian government of misusing millions of U.S dollars. It is important that the United States gives at least 500 million U.S dollars a year to Zambia in aid.
Foote acknowledged in his statement that he had no right to interfere in Zambian policy-making but said, “I thought, perhaps incorrectly, that Christianity meant trying to live like our Lord, Jesus Christ. I am not qualified to sermonize, but I cannot imagine Jesus would have used bestiality comparisons or referred to his fellow human beings as ‘dogs’, or ‘worse than animals’; allusions made repeatedly by your countrymen and women about homosexuals”. He added, “Targeting and marginalizing minorities, especially homosexuals, have been a warning signal of future atrocities by governments in many countries”.
Recent Comments