The governor of Tanzanian city Dar es Salaam has declared a 'round-up' of gay people.
According to BBC News, Paul Makonda told local journalists that the crackdown would start with sweeps of social media.
Makonda, a strong ally of notoriously anti-gay President John Magufuli, said that he was unfazed by the prospect of upsetting pro-LGBTIQ+ countries.
"I prefer to anger those countries than to anger God," he said, reports BBC News.
The move is in line with Tanzania's shifting political climate, which began when President Magufuli - nicknamed 'The Bulldozer' over the course of a 20-year political career - was elected in 2015. In the three years since taking power, Magufuli has earned a reputation for closing down newspapers critical of his administration and de-funding family planning organisations, insisting that he does “not see any need for birth control in Tanzania.”
Now it's the East African country's LGBTIQ+ community in the firing line.
Governor Paul Makonda's anti-gay surveillance squad is believed to be made up of 17 state officials from the Tanzania Communications Authority, the local police and members of the media.
"I have received reports that there are so many homosexuals in our city, and these homosexuals, are advertising and selling their services on the internet," Makonda said in a Swahili video doing the rounds on social media, reports CNN.
He continued: "Therefore, I am announcing this to every citizen of Dar es Salaam, if you know any gays... report them to me."
Under colonial-era laws, homosexual acts are illegal in Tanzania, where HIV clinics have been systematically closed down in recent years for allegedly promoting homosexuality.
