Tanzania said Friday that it would not
comply with demands from donors to soften its opposition to LGBT
rights.
According to NBC News, Finance Minister
Philip Mpango told officials that Tanzania could not comply with
demands from donors to tolerate the LGBT community as a condition for
aid.
“[T]here is no way,” he said,
calling the request “intolerable.”
Last month, Denmark, Tanzania's
second-largest donor, said that it would withhold $10 million in aid
to Tanzania. Officials cited “unacceptable homophobic comments”
in announcing the decision.
The news came after the regional
governor of Tanzania's largest city, Dar es Salaam, asked the public
to help identify people suspected of being gay.
Gay sex is illegal in Tanzania, where
violators face up to 30 years in prison.
(Related: Tanzania's
president says cows disapprove of homosexuality.)
Citing “the deterioration of the
human rights and rule of law situation” in Tanzania, the European
Union recalled its envoy in the East African nation.
World Bank officials recently announced
that they had canceled a $300 million loan to Tanzania. Officials
said that the decision was based on the nation making it a crime to
question official statistics.