Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye, has warned that leaders in African countries like Ghana would not countenance the aggressive push by external forces for the recognition of gay rights.
His caution follows a courtesy call on him today [Tuesday, July 11] by Amnesty International, where they made demands including a scrapping of the death penalty from the statute books.
But the Speaker said African leaders are getting tired of the demands yo allow for gay rights on the grounds of human rights.
“Following what Tony Blair said which I personally wrote him a letter that if we do not go the homosexual way, it was going to affect their aid to us. Honestly in view of these developments, we Africans are also concerned about certain things that may appear really intellectual …It is becoming a human right in some countries. The right to do homosexuality. The right for a human being to sleep with an animal. We are tired of some of these things and we must be frank about it. ..I think all these matters need to be seriously interrogated …,” said the Speaker.
The Speaker had not long ago, called for an amendment of Ghana’s constitution to completely ban homosexuality in Ghana and make it strictly punishable by law.
See: Speaker Calls for Constitution Amendment to Totally Ban Homosexuality in Ghana
In 2016, some Members of the Scottish Parliament called on their government to confront John Dramani Mahama, who was President at the time, on Ghana’s alleged abuses of its lesbian and gay citizens.
Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International’s programme Director in Scotland, had said her organisation received regular reports that LGBT people faced police harassment, while repressive attitudes towards LGBT Ghanaians meant they were vulnerable to discrimination and physical attacks.
It is a well-known fact that Ghana’s “Akwaaba” is for all but homosexuals and other sorts of sexual deviants as it ranks among some 75 countries of the world where being gay is illegal.
At the moment, sexual relationship between people of the same sex in Ghana, attract not more than a 3-year jail sentence in a situation where the act is performed with the consent of involved parties. But when it is done without consent, it is punishable by 5-25 years imprisonment.
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