If the couple are caught, they could face up to 14 years in prison.
Zambian police are currently trying to track down a couple that they believe are in a lesbian relationship. According to news website, Mwebantu, the national cybercrime unit began the investigation after seeing pictures of the pair circulating online.
However, as the police have so far been unable to find them, they have asked for public assistance.
Homosexuality is currently illegal in Zambia, with a maximum sentence of 14 years. The law is so strict, that even people who are suspected of having tried to engage in gay sex can be sentenced for up to seven years. This is the same sentence someone would get for “unlawfully and indecently assaulting a boy under the age of 14 years.”
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Conversely, laws against incest only punish the participants for five years.
Zambia’s anti-LGBTQ laws date back to when the country was part of the British colony of Rhodesia. Back in 2013, the current President, Edgar Lungu said that those “advocating gay rights should go to hell”.
Zambia’s neighbouring country, Zimbabwe, isn’t faring much better. Although the country recently ousted their ferociously anti-LGBTQ leader, Robert Mugabe, the country’s new leader, Emmerson Mnangagwa said that it was not “his duty” to fight for equal rights.
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However, one African nation where things might be about to get better is Kenya. Currently, judges are reviewing their existing penal code, as the law outlawing “unnatural sex” is seen as too vague. They have the potential to either decriminalise homosexuality, or make the existing law a lot worse.
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