The Keta Presbytery of the Global Evangelical Church (GEC) has called on President Akufo-Addo to ignore any lawsuit and assent to recently passed anti-LGBTQ Bill into law to reflect Ghana’s values.
The President had in a letter to the Clerk to Parliament on March 18, 2024, indicated that he would refrain from giving his assent, attributing his decision to court cases against the bill.
The bill, Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill which was unanimously passed by Parliament on February 28, 2024, after years of deliberation, proposes a three-to-five-year jail term for individuals who promote or sponsor LGBTQ activities, while those caught in the act are to be sentenced to a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of three years.
But leadership of the Keta Presbytery of GEC said despite the pending lawsuits seeking to restrain the President from assenting to the bill, his assent was important and must be immediate.
This was in a communiqué the Presbytery issued at its just-ended Presbytery Representatives Conference held at GEC, Gloryland Chapel, Anloga with delegates drawn from twenty districts and parishes, including ministries and groups, made available to Ghana News Agency.
“We are calling on the President of the Republic to assent the Anti-LGBTQIA+ Bill passed recently by the Parliament of Ghana into law with immediate effect. The voices of the masses cannot be underestimated all in the name of lawsuits against the bill.
Ghana is bigger than any individual and so the need of the country must be of utmost priority. Our moral values, societal laws, Christian and other religious beliefs and values are all against the movement and lifestyle of LGBTQIA+.”
It craved the indulgence of all victims and practitioners of LGBTQ+ to seek counseling and rehabilitation to maintain the “right human sexual standards for themselves and for the good of society.”
Touching on other national issues, it thanked God for His continued leadership, protection and preservation of the lives of citizens while commending the government for keeping its promise to protect the lives of the citizenry by fighting against extremism and terrorism saying, more needed to be done to safeguard the country’s peace.
“While we commend the Government for its efforts at securing our borders as a country, we wish to urge the Government to pay attention to the needs of the citizenry.
The grievances of the citizens, including teachers, and other workers must be given the needed attention to arrest all forms of apprehension against the Government that would disturb the peace.”
The communiqué called on government to direct its efforts at reviewing the Free SHS Policy, focusing on providing infrastructure and other needs of schools, while urging the Electoral Commission to deliver on its mandate without compromise in the upcoming elections with a call on all political parties to demonstrate the spirit of patriotism in handling matters.
The Conference was also concerned about the protection and preservation of the destiny of the youth and asked chiefs and community leaders to take steps to arrest societal ills, charged citizens to plant more trees to help reverse the rapid change in climatic conditions, and called on Christian leaders to lead exemplary lives to benefit humanity.
GNA