In November last year, a high court in the capital of Zambia, Lusaka sentenced two men — Japhet Chataba (39) and Steven Samba (31) to prison for 15 years for having gay sex. According to the report on the BBC, a worker who had peeped into their room through an open window in the lodge they booked reported them.
US Ambassador, Daniel Foote who heard of the case condemned the sentencing and encouraged the government of Zambia to review the case and its homosexuality laws. In response, the diplomat’s comments, President Lungu then said that he did not “want such people in our midst. We want him gone”, the BBC reports. Based on the backlash Foote received from his comments, he was recalled to Washington in December.
But The President of Zambia has now pardoned the two men.
Edgar Lungu, the president, pardoned them on Monday to commemorate Africa Day. The BBC reports that Japhet and Steven were on the list of nearly 3000 prisoners scheduled to be pardoned by the president.
Although Zambia still holds on to legislation on homosexuality from the colonial era that criminalizes same-sex relations, this move is one step in the right direction for the country and for the African continent.
