The Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs is asking President Akufo-Addo to reject all forms of advocacy seeking to promote activities of LGBTQ+ in Ghana.
The House of Chiefs maintains that LGBTQ+ is not part of Ghana’s culture and should not be accepted amid debate over the anti-LGBTQ+ bill currently before Parliament.
Speaking at a meeting with the President as part of his tour of the Greater Accra Region, the Vice President of the Greater Accra Regional House of Chiefs, King Odaifio Welentsi the third, said, “as fathers of the land, we have monitored the social and public discourse and we want to add our voice that this practice will not be entertained or tolerated among our people.”
“Mr. Presient, all eyes, and ears are looking up to you for you to do the needful to help save humanity,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo for his part said he’s hopeful Parliament will deal with the matter satisfactorily
“I have heard what you have to say. Parliament is seized of the matter and we hope that it will deal with it in a satisfactory way,” he said.
The President, in his first comment on the matter earlier this week, said he does not feel pressured by the discussions about the anti-LGBTQ+ bill, which is known as the proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
He believes the matter, if handled properly, will be a credit to Ghana’s democracy.
Parliament is currently receiving memoranda on an anti-LGBTQ+ Bill ahead of its resumption next week.
While data indicates that most Ghanaians are in favour of the Bill, it has faced criticism from renowned academics.
The Bill prescribes that people of the same sex who engage in sexual activity could spend up to 10 years in jail.
Varying forms of support for the LGBTQ+ community will also be criminalised if the Bill, known as the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, is passed into law.
