Ignatius Annor accuses Akufo-Addo of emboldening attacks on sexual minorities

Ignatius Annor, the France-based Ghanaian journalist who recently opened up about his gay status, has taken a swipe at President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on the latter's recent comments on the subject of LGBTQ+ and same-sex marriage in Ghana.

After days and several calls for the president to also speak about the subject after it generated lots of conversation online, especially too after it was reported that an LGBTQ+ office had been opened in Accra, the president finally did.

At a church service for the Installation and Enthronement of Rt. Rev Dr. Cyril Kobina Ben-Smith as the 2nd Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Ghana, at Asante-Mampong, in the Ashanti Region, on Saturday, February 27, 2021, President Akufo-Addo stated emphatically that same-sex marriage will not happen under his watch.

“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,” he reiterated, having earlier posited same in an interview on foreign news media Al Jazeera in 2017.

But, reacting to the president's comment in a Facebook post, the EuroNews journalist stated how stupefied he was at watching the video and the president make such a stance yet again.

"As I pen this down, it is unclear if the Ghanaian president condemned the violent reactions/treatment being meted out to people like myself for just being who we are and will be. Mind you we hurt absolutely no one for simply loving," he wrote.

He went on to describe how disappointed he was in the president's stance, stating that such comments are clearly "against our fundamental human rights as beings."

Earlier in the post, Ignatius Annor had stated that he continues to receive threats on his life for having come out to announce his sexual preference for men, adding that he knew it was time to speak up after "I denied my sexuality for years."