For far too long, Africans have been influenced by American conservative politicians and religious leaders with their own selfish and destructive interests – particularly relating to homosexuality. It’s time that Africans decide their own way, free from Western influence.

These American leaders are part of a secretive religious group called “the Family,” and have long reached into Africa to impose their will on the people.  Their members claim to be helping Africans, but they are really just using Africa as a test-bed for their extremist, often anti-gay policies.  Some African leaders, such as Ugandan President Museveni (who has had ties to the Family since his first election), parrot the Family’s claim that homosexuality is a result of Western influence.

Family member Pastor Rick Warren has his hands all over Africa… he declared Rwanda the first “purpose-driven nation” in 2005 with the help of 48 other American Evangelicals. Uganda became the second such nation, along with plans for their “kill the gays” law. Warren, with help from Family “core member” Rep Joe Pitts (R-PA), also pushed on to Africa the idea of abstinence-only sex education rather than the use of condoms (since the church is opposed to contraception), and what resulted was an increase in AIDS cases.

Family member Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) is ultra anti-gay, earning a 0% from the Human Rights Campaign, NARAL Pro-Choice, and Planned Parenthood and coining the phrase “guns, God, and gays” to summarize his agenda. He travels to Uganda twice a year, and calls the trips “a Jesus thing,” claiming that he “can always get in to see the kings.”

David Bahati, the Family’s go-to man in Uganda, introduced the idea for the “kill the gays” legislation at their National Prayer Breakfast in 2008 when their keynote speaker was an American Christian business consultant who runs “Jesus Christ Quality Management Consultants.” Bahati runs the “national prayer breakfast” offshoot African Youth Leadership Forum, with kids from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and South Africa. This fits with another Family venture in Africa, Cornerstone Developments, which seeks to “form a new generation of African leaders [since it is easier to do so] than to persuade the present leaders to reform.”  (Bahati and the Family’s African organizations are discussed at length in this interview with Jeff Sharlet)

Pat Robertson (whose father was VP of the Family in his day) also not only has a history in Africa (such as when he wined and dined Zaire president Mobutu for diamonds, and cut a deal with Liberia’s Charles Taylor for gold-mining rights), but is also a major influence in Africa right now. Through his US show, “The 700 Club” (which was Scott Roeder’s inspiration to murder abortion-provider Dr. George Tiller), Robertson has spread hate for the LGBT community – such as when he agreed with Jerry Falwell for blaming the September 11th terrorist attacks on “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays, and the lesbians.” In the 1970s, Robertson founded CBN International with distribution in “the Far East, Canada, South America, Mexico, Africa, and Europe.” And Robertson operates the CBN Africa TV network.

The CBN Africa TV network has regional offices in Angola, Botswana, Djibouti , Eritrea, Ethiopa, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Nambia, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  In Nigeria, CBN airs “700 Club Nigeria” every week – their website brags about their “Turning Point” program turning a gay Nigerian man straight. Since its creation in 1993, the 7,000 member Family Worship Center in Abuja has been run by Ina Omkau, a graduate of Robertson’s Regent University.

It’s time that Africans stood up for themselves, not the Family.