Burkina Faso’s unelected transitional parliament has passed a bill banning homosexual acts, a little over a year after a draft of an amended family code that criminalised homosexuality was adopted by the country’s cabinet.
The new measure unanimously voted through on Monday imposes punishments of up to five years in jail, and has become part of a broader crackdown on same-sex relationships across the continent.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced on state-run media that, “the law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years as well as fines”.
He added that foreign nationals caught breaking the law would also be deported.
The next step for the legislation is obtaining the signature of the country’s military leader Capt Ibrahim Traoré, the Reuters news agency reports.
Capt Traoré seized power in 2022, after forcing another military ruler, Lt Col Paul-Henri Damiba, from office.
The Sahel nation had previously been among just 22 out of 54 African countries that allowed same-sex relations, which are punishable by death or lengthy prison terms in some states.
After gaining independence from France in 1960, Burkina Faso did not inherit anti-homosexuality laws unlike Britain’s former colonies on the continent.
The country is socially conservative and religious with less than 10% of people thought to not follow any faith at all.
Burkina Faso’s new law is in keeping with increasing crackdowns on LGBT relationships across the continent.
Last year, neighbouring Mali, an ally of Burkina Faso and also ruled by a junta, adopted legislation criminalising homosexuality.
There has been significant backlash and criticism against countries that have toughened their anti-gay stance in recent years, including from the World Bank that had put in place a ban on loaning money to Uganda due to their anti-LGBT stance.
The ban has since been lifted.
Nigeria is also among the countries on the continent that have enacted laws banning homosexuality. Ghana’s parliament passed an anti-homosexuality bill last year, but the then-president did not sign it into law.
Of all the countries, Uganda adopted the toughest provisions, making what it describes as “aggravated homosexuality” a capital offense and imposing life sentences for consensual same-sex relations.
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