President Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania has warned university student leaders and asked them to be careful with some “imported cultures”.
The Tanzanian leader, however, did not elaborate on the imported cultures.
“If you are a Tanzanian, live in accordance with our cultures,” Hassan said.
Frank Haule a senior member of the ruling CCM party claimed that same sex activity was rampant in universities.
“That practice is contrary to our cultures and is prohibited by religious books,” Haule said.
After the President’s meeting last week with university student leaders, imported children’s books promoting LGBTQ rights have been quickly removed from shelves and subsequently banned.
Tanzania’s Education Minister Adolf Mkenda announced Monday an immediate ban on “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books, and said the government was monitoring libraries in both public and private schools to make sure they were not on their shelves.
The minister also listed other banned books, including “Sex Education: A Guide to Life”.
“We are banning these books from schools and other education institutions because they contradict Tanzanian cultural norms and morals,” Mkenda told reporters.
“The books also violate the good practices of bringing up our children,” he said, calling on parents to inspect their children’s bags to make sure they did not have the books.
Mkenda said they were on a first list of “unacceptable books” and urged the public to report other similar books as part of an ongoing investigation.
