Akufo-Addo must go beyond his position on LGBTQ+ - Chief Imam’s Spokesperson

Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu, whiles commending President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for taking a stance against LGBTQ+ legalization has asked the president to go beyond his open declaration.

Speaking at an event in Asante Mampong to outdoor the second Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo stated:

“It will not be under the presidency of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that same-sex marriage will be legalized in Ghana; it will never happen in my time as president.”

Reacting to the President’s pronouncement in an interview with Citi news, Sheikh Aremeyaw Shaibu urged the president to oversee the enactment of stricter entrenched laws that will prevent the possible legalization of same sex marriage by any other government.

“We want him to go further to review the law and expand it to capture all related sexual orientation that has to do with the same-sex marriage and criminalises it in such a way that there will be no way it can have any institutional endorsement under any government.”

Recent conversations about same-sex marriage have become rife in Ghana following the opening of an LGBTQ+ office at Kwabenya in Accra.

News of the opening generated criticism from religious and traditional leadership quarters who among other things have argued that the act contravenes the values and norms of Ghanaian religions and traditions.

Pro LGBTQ+ individuals and organisations have also come out to decry what they say is the persecution of gay people in the country and have called for the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country.

A fundraising event for the opening of the LGBTQ+ office in Accra is said to have received the endorsement of some foreign diplomats with some including the Australian High Commissioner attending.