# Burkina Faso passes law banning homosexuality with prison terms and fines
Burkina Faso’s ruling junta has unanimously passed a law banning homosexuality, a move that introduces prison terms and fines and marks a major legal shift in a country where same-sex relations had not previously been outlawed.
According to France 24, the draft was adopted by 71 unelected members of a transitional parliament that has been in place since two coups in 2022. Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala said on national broadcaster RTB that the law provides for prison sentences of between two and five years as well as fines. He also said foreign nationals convicted under the law would be deported.
The legislation is part of a wider reform of family and citizenship law. Officials said it would be “popularised through an awareness campaign,” suggesting the government intends to pair enforcement with public messaging. That does not soften the central point: same-sex conduct is now criminalized in Burkina Faso under junta rule.
The report places the move in a regional pattern. It says roughly 30 African countries already treat homosexuality as illegal, while Mali adopted similar legislation in November 2024 and Uganda and Ghana have both tightened anti-homosexuality laws in recent years. Burkina Faso is therefore joining a broader wave of legal repression rather than acting alone.
The decision is especially significant because Burkina Faso had not banned homosexuality before the military seized power three years ago. That means the law is not a carryover from an older legal code but a new political choice under the junta. As such, it reflects the direction of the regime as much as the content of the law itself.
The report does not provide evidence of any immediate enforcement cases, so it would be wrong to speculate about arrests or prosecutions. What is clear is that the law creates a new category of criminal liability that did not previously exist in Burkina Faso’s domestic law.
For activists and rights groups, the law is likely to be read as part of a wider crackdown on civil liberties. For the junta, it may be presented as social policy and moral order. Either way, the legal effect is plain: consensual same-sex relations are now punishable by imprisonment and fines, with foreign residents facing deportation.
The law’s adoption by an unelected transitional parliament also matters because it removes any claim that the shift came through a competitive national debate. Instead, it came through a junta-controlled process that is already reshaping citizenship and family law. That makes the measure part of state-building under military rule, not just a standalone moral-policy decision.
The law’s wording and the minister’s remarks also suggest that authorities intend to enforce it through visible state messaging rather than quiet application. That approach may be designed to normalize the change before any high-profile case reaches court. But the practical effect is already established: the state has created a criminal category for consensual same-sex conduct and paired it with fines, prison terms and expulsion for foreigners.
