By Melanie Nathan, May 23, 2024.
As Ghana heads toward its general election in December 2024, the flag-bearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has assured the anti-homosexuality clergy in Tamale, Northern Region that as President, "LGBTQ+ will not be allowed to happen."
That language and campaign promise resides in the context of the current anti-Homosexuality law, The Family Values ACT, which is pending attestation by the current President Nana Akufo-Addo, who is not running for re-election. The new legislation enacted this year is also pending two constitutional challenges in the Ghanaian court.
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia noted: “This is because our Bible says no, our Quran says no, and our people say no,” he said, while addressing Imams, Traditional Chiefs, and Muslim leaders of the Savannah Region in Damongo.
According to him, his religion frowns upon it as well as the Christian religion and the general Ghanaian society. It is quite typical of an African leader to mobilize support through a symbiotic relationship with religious leaders, using anti-gay rhetoric and ascribing to scriptures, whether Islamic or Christian.
“There is this issue of LGBTQ which people are talking about. It is something that I will never allow to happen as president. Our religion is against it, and the Ghanaian society is also against it. It will never happen here,” Dr. Bawumia said.
COUNTRY CONDITIONS EXPERT WITNESS
CONTACT: Melanie Nathan, B.A. LL.B commissionermnathan@gmail.com
Melanie Nathan, Executive Director of African Human Rights Coalition is a qualified country of origin expert witness in the United States and global immigration courts, providing expert written country conditions reports and testimony for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, non-binary, LGBTQI + asylum seekers from African Countries, to include activists, allies and human rights defenders.
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