Ghana’s president makes fresh comments on the country’s homosexual laws

desmond frimpong

August 9, 2018 2:42 PM

Addressing participants at the 2018 Synod of the Global Evangelical Church in Accra, the president said he has no power to introduce such legislation.

Ghana’s president Akufo Addo says his government has no plans to legalise same-sex marriage in the country.

“I do not hesitate to state openly that I am a Christian in politics and will continue to be so and a politician who is deeply influenced by Christian values. I know that the church can be very influential in making a dramatic difference in education, health, and sanitation. Let me assure that this government has no plans to change the law on same-sex marriage, we have no authority, and we will not seek any authority to do so, it is well within our reach,” he said.

The west African country can boast of being a beacon of democracy on the African continent, yet it finds it hard to come to terms with the legalisation of homosexuality. This gesture has been questioned by some sections of the international community and even met by indirect threats.

Anti-gay activists continuously call on the government to resist moves by advocates campaigning for gay rights.

The Church and other religious groups have been one of the vociferous anti-gay campaigners in Ghana, thus pushing politicians to reiterate their commitment to maintaining homosexuality as a crime.

Under Ghanaian criminal law, same-sex sexual activity is illegal, owing to the criminal code’s stance on unnatural carnal knowledge.

Persons found to have fallen foul of this law are liable to a prison term ranging from five years to 25 years, per Section 104 of the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003.

desmond frimpong

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