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Government will arrest and prosecute those involved in the gay sex business.

The country’s deputy health minister Hamisi Kigwangalla announced on Twitter that the government was investigating “the homosexuality syndicate” stating: “I will publish a list of gay people selling their bodies online. Those who think this campaign is a joke are wrong. The government has long arms and it will arrest all those involved quietly.

“Once arrested they will help us find others.”

The statement comes just days after shutting dozens of AIDS clinics accused of promoting homosexuality.

“We have suspended the provision of HIV and AIDS services at less than 40 drop-in centres for key populations operated by NGOs countrywide after it was established that the centres were promoting homosexuality, which is against Tanzania’s laws,” Health Minister Ummy Mwalimu told a press conference.

Around six months ago the government also threatened to deregister pro-gay civic groups it said were harmful to the “culture of Tanzanians”, while in September, the government temporarily suspended HIV and AIDs outreach projects targeting gay men.

Last year she said it was estimated that 23 percent of men who have sex with men in Tanzania were living with HIV/AIDS.

Gay male sex is punishable by anything from 30 years to life imprisonment under Tanzanian law, but there is no such ban on lesbian relations.

According to Amnesty International around two-thirds of African countries criminalise consensual same-sex sexual conduct.

 

 

 

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