Four Churches and four Christian organisations yesterday presented a memorandum to Parliament in support of the bill to criminalise Lesbians Gays Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQI+) in the country.
The churches were the Apostolic Church Ghana, Church of Pentecost, Methodist Church Ghana and Christ Apostolic Church Ghana.
The Christian organisations were Christian Council Ghana, Ghana Congress Evangelism, Women Ministry National Clergy Association and the National Association of Charismatic and Christian Churches.
At around 11:00a.m. the men of God, including Apostle Eric Nyamekye, Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church Ghana, Most Reverend Dr Paul Kwabena Boafo, President of the Apostolic Church Ghana, ApostleDr Aaron Ami-Narharrived at the forecourt of Parliament for the presentation.
Presenting six memoranda with15,000 signatories from pastors, youth workers of the church, Children Ministry,pastors wives, ApostleEric Nyamekye said the Church was fully in support of the bill before Parliament and against the LGBTQI+.
He said the concerns of the Church was about the future, explaining that the move to support the practice was“an insult to the intelligence of God.”
The Chairman urged Government to put an“immediate stop to the legalisation of such law in the country.”
He said the issue at hand wasnot a matter about rights, but morality.
Most Rev Dr Paul Boafo said that as a churchthey were not in support of the LGBTQI+, underlining the need to protect family and cultural values of the country.
Most Rev Boafo stated that the churches would ensure the bill was passed by the lawmakers to promote family values and sexual rights in the country.
Apostle Dr Ami-Narhcalled on “the lawmakers to do the right thing by ensuring that the law to criminalise LGBTQI+ was passed.”
He said God in His wisdom created man and woman and not otherwise.
The Acting DeputyClerk to Parliament, Mr Eric Owusu Mensah, who received the petitions from the leaders of the churches said laws were made for the citizens of the country.
He said it was in the interest of Parliament that the citizens participated in law making process and “this is a bill that has generated a lot of interest.”
Mr Mensah said the Muslim Council, the Catholic Bishops Conference and Assemblies of God had already presented their memos in support of the bill.
He stated that he was reliably informed by the clerk of the Committee that they had received more than one hundred memos from all over the world which meant that the bill was very important and people had interest in it.
The Acting Deputy Clerk to Parliament stated that the committee would meet and examine the bill alongside all the memorandum.
He assured that the clergy would be involved in the processes,” During the processes you can be called upon to make presentation on the memos that you have presented to Parliament before the passage, ‘’he added.
Mr Owusu commended the leaders of the Church for presenting their memos to the Parliament.
The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Constituency, Mr Sam George urged organisations, individuals to present their petitions in support of the bill.
The Minority Leader, HurunaIddrisu, said promoting LGBTQI+ would be “difficult in Ghana for the purposes of morality and public safety.”
He said well-meaning Ghanaians should stand the moral test whether it is accepted to the norms of the Ghanaian cultural and values.
The bill was laid before Parliament by eight Members of Parliament who jointly submitted a private bill to push for the criminalisation of LGBTQI+ activities in the country.
The bill, which they term as a ‘Bill on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values’, was presented to the Speaker, Mr Alban Bagbin in June this year.
The proponents of the bill want the promotion, advocacy, funding, and acts of homosexuality to be criminalised in the country.
The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram constituency, Sam George, led the MPs to make the presentation in Parliament.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI