The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu says his culture does not support the activities of LGBTQ+.
“My upbring does not in any way support this kind of activities,” he emphatically said in an interview on NEAT FM’s morning show ‘Ghana Montie’.
Obiri's Indictment
Hon Kyei-Mensah's stance, however, has somewhat offered some clarity on the position by the NPP caucus in Parliament after the party’s deputy General Secretary Obiri Boahene raised concern about their seeming silence on the issue.
Nana Obiri Boahen, earler last week, urged the MPs to declare their support or otherwise for the bill.
“I am surprised that I don’t see a good number of the NPP MPs championing this cause, I am worried.”
“No person should even encourage that we should not be talking about that, we should stop it. How do we discuss this even in the public domain,” he told JoyNews in an interview.
Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
A couple of months ago, some legislators presented a copy of the draft of the Bill to the Speaker of Parliament. This bill is seeking to expand on the current law that provides up to three years in prison for same-sex activity.
The new bill when passed will prohibit and criminalize advocacy, funding and act of LGBTQ+ while promoting conversion therapy programs seeking to “convert” people from homosexuality to heterosexuality.
However, the controversial anti-gay bill has already divided opinions in the Ghanaian public discourse.
Academicians Oppose Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
Some fifteen renowned legal, academic and civil society professionals have filled a memorandum challenging the anti-gay legislation submitted to Parliament saying it violates key fundamental freedoms under the constitution.
In the memorandum, they contend that the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which seeks to criminalize LGBTQ+ and adjacent activities, is an “impermissible invasion of the inviolability of human dignity.”
"The Bill violates virtually all the key fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution, namely the right to freedom of speech and expression; the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and belief; the freedom to practice any religion and to manifest such in practice (which includes the freedom not to practice any religion); the right to assemble, including the freedom to take part in processions and demonstrations; the freedom of association and the right to organize- in essence, the fundamental human rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution,"
"In short, the provisions of the Bill are so egregious in their violation of the fundamental human rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution that it beggars belief that it could be introduced as a Bill in the House of Parliament," the individuals stated in a memo.
Religious & Traditional Groupings Back Anti-LGBTQ+ Bill
Some Christian leaders, on the other hand, have submitted a memorandum to Parliament on the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, endorsing the bill. The Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference have said they want homosexuality to be illegal in Ghana and described the practice as an abomination on the basis of scriptures in the Holy Bible.
“As a Church, we want this abominable practice made illegal in our country…
"....according to the Church’s understanding of human rights, the rights of homosexuals as persons do not include the right of a man to marry a man or of a woman to marry a woman. We should also point out that the European Court for Human Rights has ruled that same-sex “marriages” are not considered a human right, making it clear that homosexual partnerships do not in fact equal marriages between a man and a woman. The ruling was announced 9th June 2016 in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.”
Who Wins?
With the stage now set for what will be an intriguing "battle" of reasons for and against the anti-LGBTQ+, Hon Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu summed it perfectly in Monday's interview on NEAT FM, when he posited that despite his culture frowning on the LGBTQ+ activities – “lawfully, we’ll debate on it in parliament.”
Listen to interview
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
No wonder this issue is a prophecy but we must avoid it now and pass the bill no delay tactics wai mmm fast koraa
The fight against LGBT Is about morality and also about rights. It is the right of every prople to protect their culture and their lives from the attack of foreing invasion and imposition. Nobody can claim to have the right to kill himself nor another person. Killing, stealing and some actions are considered in the society to be wrong and cannot be a right. LGBT in Ghana society is deemed wrong and cannot be claimed to be a right. There is no morality if we cannot define right and wrong of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in the society.
Such a disappointment. Our leaders !!! Hmmmmm😒 Pastor Martin Niemoller once wrote. "FIRST they came for the Communists And I did not speak out Because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the Socialists And I did not speak out Because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists And I did not speak out Because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews And I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me And there was no one left To speak out for me." You playing Krachie Krachie with this cancer, hmmmmm it will come to your house and your very immediate family and there will be no one left to speak out. Let's protect the sanctity of our values Ghana 🇬ðŸ‡