The Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram Constituency, Sam George, who is leading the proponents in championing the passage of the anti-LGBTQI+ Bill into law, says it is a red herring for anyone to say Ghana would face sanctions and aid cuts, if the law is passed.
Speaking in an interview, the lawmaker posited that it is a rhetoric that is put out there that Ghana would suffer aid cuts from its donors, if it allows the law to be passed.
According to him, at his last check, Ghana gets only 1.5% donor support and if Ghana loses it because of passing the bill into law, it would be insignificant.
“1.5% of our entire budget is donor funded. So we are going to throw away our culture and norms and everything for 1.5 % when we ourselves fund the 98.5%? It makes no sense. So, all of this donor support is neither here nor there. It is actually insignificant in the real scheme of things. Since Ghana became a middle-income country, we’ve moved away from donor support.
“The donor support for our budget is minimal and is not something that is injurious to us. It is not something catastrophic if we lose. But the question is, why do we even need that donor support, if we had better management of our resources and better management of our country, we would not need donor support.”
Sam Nartey George
He also challenged anyone who opposes the bill, to show one benefit of homosexuality to society. In his opinion, any society that accepts homosexuality will be burdened with numerous challenges.
“Show me one benefit of homosexuality. I am yet to hear anybody show me one benefit to society of homosexuality. Absolutely, none. I can show you, off the top of my head, ten problems of homosexuality in society. Show me one benefit.”
Sam Nartey George
Sam George also shot down claims that the President has no critical role, in ensuring that the law comes into effect. He said when the parliament passes a law, it does not take effect, until the President assents to it.
“The role of the President is critical because the constitution says that when parliament passes a bill into law, for that law to take effect, the President would have to sign and give presidential assent. The only thing we can do is wait for six months. If after six months, he fails to give presidential assent, we have to bring it back to parliament and have a two-thirds majority vote to pass it into law.
“So, the role of the President is critical, and so anyone who says that the President does not really have a role to play, doesn’t understand the law-making process.”
Sam Nartey George
Advocates For Christ-Ghana Speaks On LGBTQ+
A group calling itself Advocates for Christ-Ghana, takes a strong stand against the description of LGBTQ+ activities, as fundamental human rights.
According to the group, LGBTQ+ activities are not rights and cannot be smuggled into the list of human rights.
“There is nowhere that the UN describes these sexual preferences as rights and urged member countries to rectify it as such,” the group argued.
Mr Edem Senanu, the Chairman for Advocates for Christ – Ghana, dismissed the description of LGBTQ+ as part of the list of fundamental human rights, while speaking on the Human Sexual Right and Family Value bill, laid before Parliament and matters arising at a press conference in Accra.
Mr. Senanu noted that the description of these sexual preferences as fundamental, means it must be essential, must be inherent, vital and indispensable.
“These sexual preferences are certainly not indispensable, 80 percent of Africans are against it”, he said. “There is no basis for describing LGBTQ+ as fundamental human rights,” he added.
He quizzed: ‘If I choose to enjoy drugs then enjoying drugs must become a right?”
He stressed that admission of these sexual preferences, portends intolerable injuries to the culture and religious way of life of Ghanaians.
“These lifestyles are one we cannot afford in Ghana,” he noted.
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