Some of the demonstrators with placards
The Western Region Network of Churches, Ministers and Councils has appealed to government to give a sense of urgency in the facilitation of the passing into law of the Anti-LGBTQIA+ bill currently before Parliament.
The Anti-LGBTQIA+ bill is also known as “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Right and Ghanaian Family Values Bill.”
According to the churches, homosexuality is unacceptable behaviour that the Almighty God frowns upon and alien to the Ghanaian culture and family value system.
The Network has therefore indicated that it will do everything to make the subject an election issue along which the members will be encouraged to cast their ballot come 2024.
“We expect our Representatives in Parliament to begin to seriously lobby the House, table our concerns on the floor of Parliament and go ahead to defend our cause as a Region,” they stated.
This was contained in a press release issued by the Western Region Network of Churches, Ministers and Councils.
It was prior to a massive demonstration organised by the Network on Saturday as part of a crusade against LGBTQIA+. The demonstration was attended by hundreds of Christians mainly from the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis.
They marched through the principal streets of Takoradi and Sekondi, holding placards some of which read “LGBTQIA+ is a Taboo”; “God Created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve”; “Ghana Says No To Gayism” and “Remember Sodom and Gomorrah” among others.
Addressing journalists earlier, Rt Rev Emmanuel Kwesi Ansah, Bishop of the Sekondi Diocese of the Methodist Church, Ghana and Chairman of the Network applauded Muslims for their firm resolve to also ensure that homosexuality does not gain roots and acceptance in the nation.
“We expect that our MPs will help unravel any legal complexities on the subject as enshrined in our statute books and help clarify the position of the law on this matter, in line with our Ghanaian culture and traditions,” he noted.
He, however, commended the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and the few Parliamentarians who have come out clearly on the matter in favour of the crusade against LGBTQIA+.
“We wish to also commend our chiefs for openly issuing a statement to publicly condemn the activities of LGBTQIA+,” they added.
He noted that the unfortunate reality is that some churches in the Western world, are among the few institutions that have come out openly to legitimise the act, and gone ahead to ordain homosexual ministers into the pastorate.
“We wish to state categorically that such legitimacy will not be entertained by the Churches in Ghana,” they pointed out.
The demonstrators ended the peaceful march at the forecourt of the Western Regional Coordinating Council where they presented a copy of the statement to the Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah.
The minister assured that the statement would be forwarded to the President, and that government would not do anything which is against the will of the people.
From Emmanuel Opoku, TakoradiÂ