The leadership of the Coalition of Muslim Organisations of Ghana, COMOG, has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Parliament to ensure the passage of the Proper Human Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill into law.
According to the coalition, made up of 29 Muslim groups, the Bill if passed will bring finality to the lingering issues of LGBTQI in Ghana.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, October 7, 2021, Spokesperson for the coalition, Prince Zakaria Moses, said the group will later present a petition to Parliament on the matter.
He added that the organisation is ready and willing to do everything to ensure that the LGBTQI+ Bill is passed.
“Our collective failure to pass the LGBTQI+ Bill of 2021 will plunge the Ghanaian population into yet another health and security threat through the activities of the LGBTQI+ community.”
“It is our considered view based on the foregoing arguments that LGBTQI+ activities are lifestyle choices and personal practices which cannot be equated as rights or accorded the status of right, and we fully endorse the LGBTQI+ Bill 2021 which is currently before Parliament and encourage the Parliament of Ghana and the President to swiftly pass and assent to the bill respectively.”
Similarly, some Christian leaders have submitted a memorandum to Parliament on the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
The Church of Pentecost and its Chairman, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, as well as Apostle Dr. Aaron Ami-Narh, President of the Apostolic Church, Ghana, were part of the delegation that gathered 15,000 signatures to express strong support for the bill.
The memorandum was presented to Parliament’s Committee for Constitutional, Legal, and Parliamentary Affairs on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
Meanwhile, the Church of Pentecost has also vowed to campaign vigorously against parliamentarians should they not see to it that the Bill is passed into law with immediate effect.
The Church believes the Members of Parliament (MPs) owe Ghanaians the moral duty to pass laws in the interest of the majority, hence, the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill brought before the house must be treated with the urgency it deserves.
About the bill
About 20 members of Parliament have initiated processes to have a law passed to criminalise LGBTQ+ activities and advocacy and also jail LGBTQ+ people, their sympathizers, and funders.
The bill, dubbed “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021,” has received wide public support, with a section of the public condemning it and describing it as promoting hate.
