Ethiopian Children’s Minister slams Uganda over anti-gay law – but Twitter account then vanishes
There’s confusion after Ethiopia’s Minister of Women, Children and Youth Affairs reportedly criticised Uganda’s President for passing his country’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill – only for her Twitter account to then be deleted.
The Huffington Post reports Zenebu Tadesse tweeted on Monday: “There is no place for hate, discrimination in my beloved Africa. It’s not Governments’ business to make dress code or anti-gay laws #Uganda.”
Many on Twitter congratulated Ms Tadesse over her pro-equality remarks. But her Twitter account was subsequently deleted.
Shortly before it was removed messages were posted claiming it had been hacked.
“This is to notify that the Honourable Minister’s account was hacked by unknown persons (s). We are rectifying the matter.”
It then tweeted: “Please disregard all other tweets sent from this account meanwhile, as they are not from the Honourable Minister.”
The blog Addcafe notes that Ms Tadesse has previously made pro-equality before and has suggested she may have been forced to remove the latest tweets for stepping out of line.
Before claims were made of her account being hacked, her last tweet read: “Yesterday’s tweet is not about gay rights, it is against hate and discrimination. We must care for one another. This is our first priority”.
Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Ethiopia with sentences of up to 15 years imprisonment.
