Ghana will never legalize homosexuality no matter the pressure - Mustapha Hamid

The Information Minister Dr. Mustapha Hamid, has strongly stated that Ghana will not legalize same-sex marriage despite pressure from foreign nations.

The Minister at a press briefing held to react to a statement issued by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights stressed that, homosexuality is unacceptable in Ghana.

He told journalists that our laws do not only frown on it because it is not accepted based on our cultural and religious beliefs.

He was reacting to statements made by the Professor who indicated at a press conference on Wednesday that, the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Professor Mike Oquaye was living in delusion hence his stance on gay rights.

The speaker of parliament had earlier revealed that homosexuality is not in Ghana and that it is a strange activity that will not be accepted in the country but the UN official says Ghana's speaker of parliament has no idea of what is happening in Ghana.

According to the UN official, the number of gays and lesbians in Ghana is overwhelming and that enforcing gay rights could help safeguard the interests of the community.

“If you tell me that a man must sleep with a man so as to show his human rights for Ghana, I can assure you that our Parliament is a real micro pause of the rule of Ghana.



Ghanaians do not support gay rights and nobody is going to make any law that will support this kind of thing,” he revealed to the media after the UN held a fact-finding visit to Ghana about human rights and administrative justice. The UK Prime Minister Theresa May has also promised her country’s support to help Ghana decriminalize anti-gay laws.

She suggested that the UK’s role in introducing anti-gay laws in former colonies such as Ghana is responsible for their strong stance against the practice today; reiterating the UK’s readiness to assist such countries repeal anti-gay laws and accept the rights of such persons. But reacting to issue, Dr. Mustapha Hamid, said ‘’we are uniquely Ghanaian…The law is based on custom and tradition…So the custom of the land is what factions law.

So people or the law cannot be divorced from the cultures and traditions of the people. So as far as our cultures and traditions are concerned, gayism and lesbianism are un-Ghanaian.’’

He went on to add: ‘’it is difficult to see how foreign interests can impose foreign cultures on us…It is a non issue. The issues of bread and butter which is what I have been responding to, are more critical. The issue of poverty and how we can eradicate it are the matters that concerns developing nations today.



If they’ve gone past the kind of poverty that we have and therefore can afford to talk about other issues, that is fine with them. But for us, we [Ghana] want to stick with the bread and butter issues.’’