Harare — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has thrown his weight
behind Uganda's draconian anti-gay laws and hinted at a crackdown on
gays in his own country, state media reported Monday.
He
castigated the West for punishing Kampala with aid cuts after President
Yoweri Museveni signed into law a bill that banned homosexuality in the
east African country.
"They (the West) want to tell us... that
it's a violation of human rights, that is what they are doing to
Museveni right now," Mugabe said.
"The human right you have as a
man is to marry another woman not to get another man to marry, we refuse
that," said Mugabe at a weekend wedding reception of his only daughter
Bona.
Mugabe has previously said homosexuality is un-African and described gays and lesbians as worse than pigs and dogs.
"It's
a terrible world we are in, a terrible world where people want to do
things that they feel will enhance their own interests."
He said
until recently he was not aware of the existence of an association of
homosexuals in Zimbabwe, and warned he would want to know who belongs to
the group.
"I understand we have a group of homosexuals in this
country. I didn't know until I was told the day before yesterday. So we
want to check on who is in that group," Mugabe said.
The Gays and
Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) has long operated in the country
despite Mugabe's ranting against homosexuality.
Police have on
several occasions raided the GALZ offices and prosecutors had laid
charges against the association accusing it of operating an unregistered
organisation. However, a magistrate dismissed the case last week.
Same sex marriages outlawed in Zimbabwe.
AFP
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