Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga warned young people in the country on Thursday that the government will block all higher education scholarships from LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations.

In his statement, Chimwenga denounced LGBTQ+ organizations’ scholarships as “unlawful” and a move by “foreign interests” to recruit less privileged students into “lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual activities.” He went on to say that:

Our schools and institutions of higher learning will not entertain applicants, let alone enroll persons associated with such alien, anti-life, un-African and unchristian values which are being promoted and cultivated by, as well as practised in decadent societies with whom we share no moral or cultural affinities. Zimbabwe is a sovereign, African State with definite laws and values which typify it, cutting it apart from other mores.

Chiwenga advised young Zimbabweans who qualify for enrollment in higher education to approach government departments tasked to give grants and scholarship for support especially those with deserving cases, going on to say, “[t]hey should never be tempted to trade or sell their souls for such abominable and devilish offers.”

Zimbabwe has passed laws criminalizing homosexuality. Under the Criminal Law Act, section 73 prohibits sexual relations between males. According to Amnesty International, Zimbabwe is one of 33 countries in Africa where homosexuality is criminalized, with Mauritania, Sudan, Northern Nigeria and Southern Somalia including the death penalty as punishment for homosexual acts.