Startling new interview with the President of Zimbabwe is another low blow for the LGBTQ+ community.

Zimbabwe is one of many countries that still has a ban on same-sex marriage and that, according to its President, is not set to change any time soon.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the new President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa told CNN he had no plans to remove the ban on same-sex marriage. In his first international interview, he told reporters that “In our constitution it is banned — and it is my duty to obey my constitution.”

Whilst you could commend the President for sticking to his country’s constitution, this is one of many laws in Zimbabwe which are outdated and unnecessary.

When asked by CNN’s Richard Quest about the possibility of advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Zimbabwe, the President simply said:

Those people who want it are the people who should canvass for it, but it’s not my duty to campaign for this.

As a President, surely it is his duty to fight for the rights of equality and fairness in his country. Instead, Mnangagwa decides to pass the buck off as something which is simply out of his hands.

Rather than shrugging it off as a matter of constitution, how about he tries to adjust such constitution and make it more accepting.

You can take a look at the interview, courtesy of CNN, below: