A Private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu has accused some of his colleagues in the legal profession who form part of the LGBTQ+ of refusing to take up matters affecting them.
He has therefore decided to no longer fight for persons who are homosexuals in the society.
His reason, according to him is because he cannot speak for faceless people.
The lawyer is asking them to come out and fight for themselves since he has come across high profiled lawyers in this country who are homosexual but are not prepared to come out publicly to defend their actions.
Mr. Kpebu speaking on Accra based television station on Saturday, April 1, said “To be very frank with you I do not intend to go into the merits of the debate on LGBTQ. I have made comments on it in the past, briefly stating that if some people want to fight for it it is within their right to fight for it but the reason I am no longer interested in joining this debate aggressively is that the people who practice LGBTQ, they don’t want to show their faces. So I ask, how am I going to advocate for a faceless person?
“So that is the disconnect. It is a very sensitive matter, I have been crying here Saturday to Saturday that the Ghanaian doesn’t want to fight, this is another of that. Privately, I have seen big lawyers involved, big lawyers who are gays and they can’t fight for themselves and you are saying Kpebu should come and fight, no, you can’t fight everything. There are big lawyers, I am telling you on authority, in this country involved and they don’t want to show their faces. At least they should come out, let’s see them explain their situation.
“I have been telling some of them privately that if we even get fifty of them to snap a picture, and come out to address a press conference when they speak, they will evoke compassion.”
The discussion on the Key Points centered on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s decision to dissociate from the Proper Human Sexual Rights & Ghanaian Family Values Bill also known as the Ant-Gay Bill.
Proposed under a Private Members’ Bill, the anti-gay bill is expected to criminalise some of the activities of homosexuals in Ghana.
Answering a question put to him at the Jubilee House on Monday, March 27 when US Vice President Kamala Harris called on him, President Akufo-Addo confirmed that the bill is currently before Parliament, which will decide on it, but most of its provisions are being fine-tuned.
“It hasn’t been passed, so the statement that there is legislation in Ghana to that effect is not accurate,” he said.
“Parliament is dealing with it and at the end of the process, I will come in,” he added.
President Akufo-Addo welcomed US Vice President Harris to the seat of government as part the latter’s three-day visit to the country.
She stressed how strongly she feels about the importance of supporting and fighting for the cause of human rights including rights of LGBTQs.
“For the American press who are here, you know that a great deal of work in my career has been to address human rights issues, equality issues across the globe including the LGBTQ community and I feel very strongly about the importance of supporting freedom and supporting and fighting for equality among all people.”
By Vincent Kubi