--- description: A Zambian court sentenced a gay couple to 15 years imprisonment over their consensual relationship, and Ambassador Daniel Foote spoke out title: Zambia's President Says U.S. Ambassador Should Leave Country After Defending Gay Couple image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdca43be47ecca4fc/698a079316d88477e0c37718/zambia-president-us-ambassador.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Zambia's President Says U.S. Ambassador Should Leave Country After Defending Gay Couple by [Taonga Clifford Mitimingi / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Taonga Clifford Mitimingi / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 15, 2019 7:36 PM CUT  Zambian President Edgar Lungu waits to speak at the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly at the United Nations on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York. Zambian President Edgar Lungu waits to speak at the General Debate of the 73rd session of the General Assembly at the United Nations on Sept. 25, 2018 in New York.Bryan R. Smith—AFP/Getty Images by [Taonga Clifford Mitimingi / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Taonga Clifford Mitimingi / Bloomberg Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 15, 2019 7:36 PM CUT (Bloomberg) — Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu said he wants the U.S. Ambassador to leave the country after the diplomat criticized the African nation for sentencing a [gay couple](https://time.com/3987021/what-its-like-to-be-out-in-africa/ "undefined") to 15 years of imprisonment for having a consensual relationship. **Read more:** [_What It’s Like to Be Out in Africa_](https://time.com/3987021/what-its-like-to-be-out-in-africa/ "undefined") “We have complained officially to the American government, and we are waiting for their response because we don’t want such people in our midst,” Lungu said Sunday in comments broadcast on state-owned ZNBC TV. “We want him gone.” U.S. Ambassador Daniel Foote said last month that he was “personally horrified” after the high court sentenced the two men and called on the government to reconsider [laws that punish minority groups](https://time.com/5554531/equality-act-lgbt-rights-trump/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5750437/zambia-us-ambassador-gay-rights/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5750437/zambia-us-ambassador-gay-rights/"},"headline":"Zambia's President Says U.S. Ambassador Should Leave Country After Defending Gay Couple","datePublished":"2019-12-15T19:36:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T07:55:17.112Z","description":"A Zambian court recently sentenced a gay couple to 15 years of imprisonment for having a consensual relationship","url":"https://time.com/5750437/zambia-us-ambassador-gay-rights/","keywords":["LGBT Issues","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdca43be47ecca4fc/698a079316d88477e0c37718/zambia-president-us-ambassador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Taonga Clifford Mitimingi / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdca43be47ecca4fc/698a079316d88477e0c37718/zambia-president-us-ambassador.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"UN-ASSEMBLY-DIPLOMACY","caption":"UN-ASSEMBLY-DIPLOMACY","creditText":"Bryan R. Smith—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5750437/zambia-us-ambassador-gay-rights/","name":"Zambia's President Says U.S. Ambassador Should Leave Country After Defending Gay Couple"}}]}] ```