Botsawana President promises to uphold gay rights in the country

Botswana president Mokgweesi Masisi has vowed to uphold the rights of LGBTQ citizens of the country.

His declaration comes after an appeal to overturn a judgment made by the High Court in November 2021 to decriminalise same-sex relations in Botswana was overturned.

The 2019 High Court Judgment was not taken lying down as it was appealed in the courts.

According to News24, President Masisi called LGBTQ leaders to a meeting to assure them that he would uphold the court’s decision.

"We demand and expect anybody to respect the decisions of our court," he said during the meeting.

African countries are known to be very conservative and traditional, with some countries like Uganda cracking the whip hard on LGBTQ individuals and advocates.

Botswana is among the few African countries to have legalised same-sex relations.

Others include Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola, Seychelles, and South Africa. South Africa legalised gay marriage in 2006.

The West has on numerous occasions urged African counties to consider LGBTQ rights as part of human rights in their countries.

In 2015 during a presidential visit to Kenya, Former United States President Barack Obama asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to consider legalising same-sex relations.

President Kenyatta said that he would not consider that because “Gay rights is a non-issue,” he had said.