AN ANTI-LGBT bill which was expected to impose some of the harshest laws against gay people has had “substantial elements” modified, the President of Ghana has said.
Nana Akufo-Addo spoke about the controversial legislation during a joint press conference with the US Vice-President Kamala Harris.
The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill 2021 is undergoing constitutional review by Parliament, but was not first introduced under the country’s current government and was instead a private members’ bill.
The original bill was understood to create some of the toughest anti-LGBT laws on the African continent, however.
Mr Akufo-Addo appeared to reassure that the attorney general had stepped into redraft the bill and suggested its draconian stance had altered.
“The bill is going through the parliament. The attorney general has found it necessary to speak to the committee (the constitutional and legal committee of parliament) about it regarding the constitutionality … of several of its provisions. The parliament is dealing with it. At the end of the process, I will come in,” he said.
“My understanding … is that substantial elements of the bill have already been modified as a result of the intervention of the attorney general.”
The Ghanaian leader went on to say that parliament will consider human rights issues that have sprung up as a result of the draconian bill and also the feelings of Ghanian citizens.
His statement comes after Uganda passed an anti-LGBT bill that will make friends and families of homosexual people report them to the authorities and give lawmakers powers to impose the death penalty in some cases.
The country’s president, Yoweri Museveni, signed the controversial bill into law and urged critics from the international community to “respect African societies and their values. If you don’t agree, just keep quiet.”
During her visit to the West-African country, Kamala Harris was quizzed about the US government’s stance on foreign government’s that sanction violations to human rights.
She said: “I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting the freedom and supporting the fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally. I will also say that this is an issue that we consider, and I consider to be a human rights issue, and that will not change.”
Ghana’s new anti-LGBT bill will crackdown on advocating for gay rights, stop gay marriage and also block the marginalised community from adopting and fostering children.
MP Samuel Nartey, who was one of the people to first introduce the hard-hitting legislation, told a Ghanaian news outlet: “The bill has not been substantially changed. The bill remains as tough and as rigid as it was.”
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During her visit to the West-African Country of Ghana, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris said:
“I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting the freedom and supporting the fighting for equality among all people, and that all people be treated equally.
I will also say that this (LGBTQIAP+) is an issue that we consider, and I consider to be a human rights issue, and that will not change.”
In short Voice readers, when the governments of the Caucasian West demand “equality and human rights” in Africa, they are not thinking of the rights of African people to enjoy free public healthcare; education, and employment and land rights.
Why is there no concern from England’s Whitehall, the U.S. Whitehouse, the Anglican Clergy, and the IMF and World Bank, for the “equality” of Ghana’s cocoa farmers; who supply most of the chocolate that England, and Switzerland will enjoy during this Easter Celebration?
Ghana’s Cocoa farmer; despite “fairtrade” and having a massive monopoly of cocoa pod production, still so not earn enough to send their children to school.
Nevertheless, the U.S. Vice-President Harris never extends her concerns for “equality” beyond chastising the people of Ghana, and Uganda, for placing the protection of their children above bowing to the Caucasian West’s incessant demand for African Governments to welcome western homosexual and heterosexual sex-tourists.
When Western Caucasian European governments and campaigners demand “equality” in Africa, they are only referring to the rights of all types of western sex-tourists, to use and abuse the youth of Africa.
It is regrettable the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, has bowed and weakened Ghana’s LGBTQIAP+ Legislation, that would have properly protected the youth of Ghana from sexually abused.
South Africa has a constitution that enshrines human rights. This means the laws of marriage apply equally to citizens regardless of their gender or sexuality. A strong human rights legal protection in a country will improve its reputation as a friendly country for visitors and investors.
Draconian laws that demonise gays and lesbians have the effect of harming a country’s international reputation. This in turn hurts the economy, quality of life and creates fertile grounds for extortion, blackmail and a dreadful living condition that citizens will want to escape from. Fools are leading this folly in the parliament while neglecting the awful living conditions in Ghana since independence. Shame and outrage at these wealthy elites pushing such garbage instead of putting out the fire burning across Ghana