The country’s deputy health minister Hamisi Kigwangalla said on Twitter that the government was investigating “the homosexuality syndicate” and would arrest and prosecute those involved in the gay sex business.
“I will publish a list of gay people selling their bodies online. Those who think this campaign is a joke are wrong. The government has long arms and it will arrest all those involved quietly,” he wrote.
“Once arrested they will help us find others.”
Gay male sex is punishable by anything from 30 years to life imprisonment under Tanzanian law, but there is no such ban on lesbian relations.
However politicians have largely ignored the gay community — which was not subject to levels of discrimination seen in other countries such as neighbouring Uganda — until a recent spike in anti-gay rhetoric by the government.
