Former President John Dramani Mahama has declared war against people practicing the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community, citing his strong Christian beliefs as the main reason.
According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, as a member of the Assemblies of God, Mahama firmly maintains that any form of LGBTQ practices contradicts his religious convictions.
During his address on the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, commonly known as the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill, before Parliament, Mahama criticized the government’s reluctance to approve private members’ bills due to associated costs.
Strangely, the NDC flagbearer is a friend to known homosexuals including US based gay
right activist, Andrew Solomon.
The former President is a very close friend of US gay homosexual, Andrew Solomon who autographed Mahama’s book.
He claimed that President Akufo-Addo had expressed his unwillingness to endorse bills that would burden the government financially, as stated by the Attorney General. Mahama urged the Executive and the Legislature to collaborate in addressing the issue.
In a video, Mr. Mahama declared that, “I am an Assemblies of God member; the faith I have does not allow a man to marry a man and a woman to marry a woman. The bill is before Parliament, and the government has indicated that they won’t sign because the Attorney General has said a private members’ motion can be passed but must not come with a cost on the government. Based on that, the President has indicated that should a bill be brought before him, he should not sign.”
Mahama emphasized the importance of executive and legislative cooperation to find a resolution that would allow the President to sign the bill.
However, he also made it clear that his personal faith strongly opposes LGBTQ practices.
He stated, “But for me personally, I don’t, as a human being, you will just get up and say I feel I am a woman, yet I was born as a man. God knew what he was doing when he created us as such, so when you ask me, my personal faith is against it.”
As the debate over LGBTQ rights continues to polarize Ghana, Mahama’s stance further underscores the divided opinions within the country. It remains to be seen how this public declaration will influence discussions surrounding the Anti-LGBTQ+ bill and LGBTQ rights in Ghana.
By Vincent Kubi