Burkina Faso’s military government has passed a controversial law criminalising homosexuality, imposing penalties of up to five years in prison and fines.
The law, unanimously adopted by the 71-member transitional parliament — an unelected body installed after two coups in 2022 — was announced on state broadcaster RTB by Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala.
“The law provides for a prison sentence of between two and five years as well as fines. If a person is a perpetrator of homosexual or similar practices, all the bizarre behaviour, they will go before the judge,” Bayala said. He added that foreign nationals convicted under the law would also face deportation.
Officials stated that the legislation, part of a broader reform of family and citizenship codes, will be “popularised through an awareness campaign.”
The move places Burkina Faso among nearly 30 African nations where homosexuality is outlawed. Similar crackdowns have been witnessed in Mali, which criminalised same-sex relations in 2024, as well as Ghana and Uganda, which recently toughened anti-LGBTQ laws despite international criticism.
Uganda’s law, one of the harshest globally, designates “aggravated homosexuality” as a capital offence and allows life imprisonment for consensual same-sex relations.
