Gitega: President Neva does not regret having wanted homosexuals to be stoned and still wants it

The Burundian president reiterated Friday that he does not regret his comments on same-sex marriage. He insisted, on the celebration of the day dedicated to women’s rights, that he is ready to be persecuted for this. He affirmed that his government is prepared to be self-sufficient instead of waiting for aid conditioned by homosexual marriage. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Reacting to the speech by Mathieu Ciowela, UNDP resident representative and Acting Coordinator of the United Nations system in Burundi, President Évariste Ndayishimiye reaffirmed his position on same-sex marriage.

“We gave first place to God in Burundi. When I said that I would never support homosexual marriage, the whole planet came after me. All the radio stations in the world talked about me. I became a star, a star. All the media in Europe and the United States were only talking about me. And they told me: we are going to threaten you and harass you like we have never done before. I answered them : I had been looking for a reason to be persecuted thanks to the word of God and finally I have just found one[…]. I am ready to be persecuted thanks to the word of God”, he says.

And to continue in a rather mocking tone. “They said Burundi will be sanctioned and I replied: ooh… if you take sanctions and close (your taps), God will open (other doors). And now when we prepare the annual budget, have you ever seen sections where we count on aid? No! But we say: all Burundians, work and pay taxes so that we can build schools, roads, hospitals and look for everything we need. We plan activities according to our profits without relying at all on external aid. This is true independence,” he insisted, asking participants at the event which took place in the Ingoma stadium in Gitega to applaud for themselves.

“Who can answer me? Who is this person who was born with money, a house? Where did they get that? Has God closed this source?”- he questioned, accusing “the colonizers of having misled us by telling us to work 8 hours a day while they worked 24 hours a day to the point of looking for slaves as labor. And after having enriched themselves, they came to us to tell us: don’t work anymore, we will give you help.”

The Burundian Head of State was reacting to the remarks of the Acting Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in Burundi Mathieu Ciowela who hoped that “the current amendments to the code of persons and the family would be an opportunity to reject the discriminatory provisions against women, particularly with regard to nationality, inheritance, sexual and reproductive rights.

President Ndayishimiye, who spoke in Kirundi (the national language of Burundi), briefly attacked the UN diplomat, describing “sexual rights as calls and rights to debauchery” which Burundian culture bans.