The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana has suggested that President Akufo-Addo’s reluctance to sign the anti-LGBTQ+ bill may be due to poverty and hunger in the country.
Right Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye observed that Western countries, acknowledging Africa’s economic struggles, are pressuring African nations to adopt LGBTQ+ practices by threatening to discontinue aid if they refuse to comply.
“The Western World has realized that Africans are hungry and poor and always begging them for arms, hence trying to force us [Ghana] to practice the LGBTQI,” he said.”
“We are a nation that needs help we are a region that needs help. We are a continent that needs help because we have been dependent on the West for aides meanwhile they have looted our economy for a long time. And they teach us what we should do” The moderator asserted.
He quizzed why the Western leaders are not forcing Arab countries to accept LGBTQ+.
“Why is it that the Western World cannot impose LGBTQI on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Abudabi, Palestine, Syria, Qatar, Iran, and other Arab League countries that have criminalized it?
Right Rev. Dr. Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye lamented that despite Ghana’s abundant natural resources the country remains poor hence heavily dependent on foreign aid.
He described the situation as “very painful.”
“We are hungry but we have gold, we are hungry but we have oil. We are hungry but we have diamonds, we have manganese, bauxite, whatever we plant in Ghana grows but we are hungry. It is painful. We are in this country and our hospitals have gone bad so when leaders are sick unless we fly me them outside”.
Parliament passed the anti-LGBTQ+ bill in 2024 however President Akufo Addo has refused to sign citing injection filed against the bill at the Supreme Court.
Subsequently, Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, publicly criticized President Nana Akufo-Addo’s decision to delay action on the bill, labeling it as unconstitutional.
The decision to delay action on the bill followed a warning from the finance ministry, highlighting potential financial repercussions.
The bill’s passage could reportedly jeopardize $3.8 million in World Bank financing and potentially disrupt a $3-billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan package.
However, this move has sparked backlash from supporters of the bill, who argue that President Akufo-Addo has previously signed bills into law despite facing legal challenges.
Speaker Alban Bagbin echoed these sentiments during a parliamentary session, asserting that the president’s refusal to receive the bill was unconstitutional and has resulted in a deadlock between the executive and legislative branches.
