DAKAR, Senegal – Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has accused Western countries of attempting to force homosexuality on African nations, defending his government’s newly strengthened anti-LGBT law.
Okay News reports that Sonko made the remarks during an address to lawmakers on Friday, where he criticized what he described as Western influence on social values in Africa.
“There are eight billion human beings in the world, but there is a small nucleus called the West which, because it has resources and controls the media, wants to impose it on the rest of the world,” Sonko said while speaking about homosexuality.
The comments come weeks after Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a controversial law increasing penalties for same-sex relationships in the Muslim-majority West African country.
Under the new legislation, people convicted of same-sex relations — described in the law as “acts against nature” — now face prison sentences ranging from five to 10 years, compared to the previous punishment of one to five years.
The law also introduces prison terms of up to seven years for individuals accused of promoting or financing same-sex relationships.
Sonko, who became prime minister in 2024, has long opposed LGBTQ rights and previously pledged to toughen laws against homosexuality if elected into office.
The issue remains highly sensitive in Senegal, where support for LGBTQ rights is widely opposed by religious and conservative groups, while activists have repeatedly accused authorities of targeting members of the gay community.
