On Monday, the unelected transitional parliament of Burkina Faso passed by an absolute majority a bill that criminalizes sexual relations with people of the same sex, providing prison sentences that can range from two to five years.
The initiative still needs the signature of Captain Ibrahim Traore, the head of the military, to become law.
Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, speaking on government radio, said the law not only provided imprisonment along with fines but also stipulated that foreigners found guilty of the law would be expelled.
The bill is one facet of a larger pattern of the continent-wide African trend of progressively limiting the rights of the LGBT community.
Once a bastion of tolerance for homosexual relationships, Burkina Faso was one of the 22 countries out of the 54 in Africa where same-sex relations were allowed.
The country did not have anti-homosexuality laws when it separated from the UK in 1960, unlike those which were previously under British rule on the continent.
Captain Traore overthrew power in 2022 after he removed the Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Damiba another military ruler. According to estimates, the socially conservative country has less than 10 percent of the population who are not religious.
The law comes as a follow-up to the similar steps taken by Mali, which like its neighbor, is also ruled by the military and last year passed laws criminalizing homosexuality. The World Bank is among the international organizations that have placed financial restrictions on countries.
