The Chief Imam Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu has called on all experts who sent a memo to the Legal and Constitutional Committee of Parliament to quash the anti LGBTQI+ bill to have a change of heart.
Fifteen professionals led by Lawyer Akoto Ampaw have through a memo asked Parliament’s Legal and Constitutional Committee to consider quashing the anti LGBTQI+ bill before Parliament.
They argue that the content of the memo will hamper the rights of persons involved in LGBTQI+ and its related activities.
But addressing the Press, the Chief Imam called on these revered persons in society to have a change of mind.
“All the Eminent Professors who have risen against the anti-LGBTQ bill should reconsider their stance by engaging in serious soul searching and prayer for God’s guidance. We also believe that perverse freedoms that draw a nation to destruction should be completely outlawed, discouraged and legally prevented.
We, therefore, call on all well-meaning Ghanaians to give their full backing and support to the promotion of proper human sexual rights and Ghanaian family values bill 2021,” he said in a statement read on his behalf.
About Anti LGBTQI+ Bill
The legislation is titled ‘The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021’.
Groups and individuals who advocate for the rights of LGBTQI people or offer support will also face sanctions under the law aside from those who engage in it.
The Bill has sparked outrage from human rights activists and persons sympathetic to LGBTQI people, but the proposed legislation has been welcomed by a significant number of Ghanaians and Christian groups.
However, others have also called for a review of Ghana’s laws to be more accommodating of minority groups, as many countries are decriminalizing homosexuality.
In February 2020 for instance, the then Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, warned the World Bank against homosexuality conditions in development assistance to Ghana
