Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye has said homosexuals in his country deserve to be killed with stones.
Like other impoverished African countries, Burundi faces pressure from the West over LGBTQI rights. Yet Bujumbura, a conservative and religious country, punishes homosexual acts with a jail term of up to two years. The president is a devout catholic while his predecessor Pierre Nkurunziza was a staunch born again Christian.
In August 2023, a court handed sentences of 1-2 years to at least seven people it convicted of homosexuality.
Ndayishimiye told reporters at a news conference that homosexuals should be stoned. He added that he did not care whether or not the West kept its aid that came with strings of respecting LGBTQI rights.
“For me, I think that if we find these people in Burundi, they should be taken to stadiums and be stoned, and doing so would not be a crime,” Ndayishimiye said.
He went on to compare homosexuality to choice of the devil, telling Burundians who have embraced LGBTQI practices to stay in the West. “If you want to choose Satan now go and live in those countries [in the West] and I think those who strive to go there want to acquire those habits, they should remain there and never bring them to us,” the president added.
Uganda is battling sanctions from the US and the World Bank over homosexuals. (See Details Here and There).
