Former President of the Ghana Catholic Bishop’s Conference and Bishop of the Konongo-Mampong Diocese, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu has asked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to come clean on his position on the LGBTQ+ controversy in the country.
The Bishop in an April 3 dated open letter to the president said the inconsistencies in his position on the subject is rather confusing and needs to be clarified.
The Bishop recounted a 2017 interview of the president with Aljazeera, where he was asked why homosexuality remained a criminal offence in Ghana.
The president is reported to have said “l don’t believe that in Ghana, so far a sufficiently strong coalition has emerged which is having that impact on public opinion that would say change it and let’s now have a new paradigm in Ghana. I grew up in England and I grew up in a time where homosexuality was banned there, and then suddenly the activities of individuals and groups, a certain awareness. a certain development grew stronger and it forced in changing [the] law. I believe that those are the same processes that will bring about changes in our situation. At the moment I don’t feel, I don’t see that in Ghana there is that strong current of opinion that is saying this is something that we need you to deal with”
Bishop Osei-Bonsu argued that in contrast to the scenario described above, he was happy when President Akufo-Addo in 2012 stated his position on same-sex marriage unambiguously.
The Bishop said speaking on Saturday, 27th February 2021, at the induction in Asante Mampong of the Archbishop of the Internal Province of Ghana in the Church of the Province of West Africa (CPWA), Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith, the President indicated, in what could be described as his strongest position yet, that he was not considering the legalisation of same-sex marriages.
“l have said it before, and let me stress it again, that it will not be under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo that same-sex marriage will be legalised,” President Akufo-Addo is quoted in the open letter to have said.
The former President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference says he is again baffled by what President Akufo-Addo said when he had a press conference with the Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.
Responding to a question by a New York Times journalist in Accra on Monday, 27 March 2023 on the issue of LGBTQ+, Kamala Harris said that for her, the LGBTQ+ issue was one that bordered on human rights.
You spoke about the draft bill on the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family”- Values 2021’that is before parliament. You said that the Bill had been modified to take into account the protection of human rights and the feelings of the population. You added that government had through the Attorney General made significant input into the legislation.
You added. “My understanding… is that substantial elements of the bill have already been modified as a result of the intervention of the attorney general”, a statement that has subsequently been debunked by the Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Constituency’. Hon. Samuel Nartey George. You also claimed that the Bill had been championed by “only a handful of MPs”. You added that even if the Bill was passed, it would still have to be ratified by you.
While recounting the clear position of former presidents, Bishop Osei-Bonsu is of the view that President Akufo-Addo clarifies his stance considering his inconsistent declarations on the matter.
“President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, my question is: what is your position on the
question of LGBTQ+?” the Bishop’s letter concluded.
The letter comes after President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Most Mathew Gyamfi, expressed a similar concern over the most recent comment of President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo on the ongoing debate on whether to legalise LGBT activities in the country or not.
The Bishop, in an interview with Catholic Trends on March 28 stated that the President should have spoken more boldly to represent the views of the Ghanaian people who have expressed their opposition to the legalization of LGBT activities.
“We expect our president to have spoken more boldly to say what the people of Ghana, at least, have said up till now. Even if it has not been passed in Parliament yet. At least, he knows what the people have sent. So he should say this is what the people are saying, and this is most likely what is going to happen because this is what the people say,” Bishop Gyamfi said.
Listen to full interview with President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference below
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