We’ll vote You out, If you oppose the anti -LGBTQ+Bill Christians Warns
Some Christian leaders petitioned Parliament on Ghanaian Family Values Bill.
Joana Somiah 
A section of Christian leaders have submitted a memorandum to Parliament on the Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill that is still under consideration by the legislative body.
The Leadership of the Church of Pentecost, The Methodist Church Ghana, The Apostolic Church Ghana, The Christian Council of Ghana, the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council, the National Association of Charismatic and Christian Churches amongst other Clergymen and women to present about 15 memos with over 15,000 signatories.
The Church of Pentecost, whose Chairman, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, as well as Apostle Dr Aaron Ami-Narh, President of the Apostolic Church, Ghana, were part of the delegation that gathered 15,000 signatures to express strong support for the bill.
The memorandum was presented to Parliament’s Committee for Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
About 20 members of Parliament have initiated processes to have a law passed to criminalise LGBTQ+ activities and advocacy and also jail LGBTQ+ people, their sympathizers, and funders.
The bill, dubbed “The Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021,” has received wide public support, with a section of the public condemning it and describing it as promoting hate.
The Christian Council and the Office of the National Chief Imam have already declared their support for the bill.
While endorsing the controversial bill, the Chairman of the Church of Pentecost, Apostle Eric Nyamekye, said their support for the bill is borne out of the belief that LGBTQI+ “is something against our Christ and against our God.”
“They [LGBTQ+advocates] are saying that God is not intelligent, [and that] he should have given other options. God is a sovereign God, and we want to stand completely for what we believe.”
One of the proponents of the bill and MP for Ningo-Prampram, Mr Sam George, expressed optimism that the bill will be passed when it is presented before Parliament.
He described the support of the clergymen as a key milestone to the passage of the bill.
“This is a landmark or a key milestone… Our bases are covered, from the academic perspective, professionals, religious authorities, traditional authorities. I am convinced that it will pass overwhelmingly,” he said.
Earlier this week, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Assemblies of God Ghana, The Ashaiman Muslim Community and the Islamic Council of Ghana had all sent in memos backing the Bill.
Speaking in an interview with the Journalists, the Church of Pentecost, Chairman, Apostle Eric Nyamekye stated that they had collected 10,000 signatures attested to the evidence that they were in full support of the anti-LGBTQ+Bill.
He stressed that the churches would vote out any government that would oppose the anti-LGBTQ+Bill.
"There no room for naturality here, and what we are saying has nothing to do with politics and anyone who want to destroy our nation, we would not allow him to rule us," the man of God angrily stressed.
According to him, they are in full support of the anti-LGBTQ+Bill and that the issue is not about the right of the people who are willing to engage in this inhumane practice but the issue is about morality.
"What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. That is it. Our position is political. It is about the future of our nation," he added.
Below is the Memorandum
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Clerk of the Committee,
Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Office of Parliament, Osu –Accra.
FROM: The School of Theology, Mission and Leadership, Pentecost University, Accra.
CC: Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Accra
SUBJECT: RE: Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and
Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.
DATE: 4th October 2021
The Committee of Theologians of the Church of Pentecost acting on behalf of the Executive Council, by this memorandum, seeks to add its voice in support of the Private Member Bill put before the Parliament of Ghana on the “Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021.”
First of all, we embrace the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (UNDHR), as it sets out to ensure that fundamental human rights are universally protected. In the light of this, the question which arises is, where is the boundary which protects one’s right from the other when the two are diametrically opposed?
It is gratifying to note that the UNDHR, which was made in Paris in December 1948 by the General Assembly, affirms the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and also to ensure freedom, social progress, security and self-determination.
However, it has become necessary to deal with the nuances of such freedom and expression of rights in the light of our collective interest as one nation and one people with a common destiny (See appendix attached).
As Christian scholars and theologians, the Bible remains our source of authority on all matters of faith and conduct. We take the view that “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it (Psalm 24:1, NIV). And like all faith communities, our beliefs, set behaviours and practices flow from the Holy Book for the common good (2 Timothy 3:16).
The position of the Committee of Theologians of the Church of Pentecost on the subject of the LGBTQ+ community and substantively the Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill, 2021 are as follows:
2.1 We believe that as a nation and one people, we need to be mindful of where one’s human rights begin and where it infringes on another’s right to existence and self-determination within the context of a unified community.
It is this dilemma that has brought all of us into this debate, thus, the need has risen to put a bill before parliament to help determine the necessary boundaries, which ensures not only individual liberties and self-expression, but more importantly, the common good and responsible living, which does not threaten the survival and sanctity of the very community or civil society.
Cultures all over the world emanate from collective experiences of virtues and values which are enshrined in customs and traditions and define their common sense of identity and social cohesion.
Traditional cultural and religious values have always been a source of pride, and determine one’s sense of identity. Thus, Christians, Moslems, and African Traditional Religious practitioners all draw ethical values and develop customs and practices as well as their concept of sin (as a deviation from the norm) and taboos on the basis of set beliefs and practices.
2.2 Similarly, customs flow out of our worldviews and cultures, and these provide the framework by which people develop their set of values and ethical considerations. In this regard, one will find certain values and practices in countries such as Britain, Canada, Japan or Pakistan which may not be appreciated in Ghana or Kenya.
This makes the word “universal” quite subjective to some extent. Thus, every sovereign nation has the right to determine its own values and destiny.
The bill before us addresses issues of “proper human sexual rights” from the perspective of the Ghanaian context.
2.3 We are also mindful of the fact that the current debate on LGBTQ+, by the nature of the nomenclature and the process of the debate, tends to exclude the majority of Ghanaians who may lack the lingua franca and powers of expression to participate meaningfully in this debate.
We are conscious of the fact that this debate must not become the preserve of the rich and “powerful” and the intellectually capable or the elite communities, for instance, in London, New York, Paris, Accra, Kumasi and Takoradi, but also and more importantly, our parents, brothers and sisters in Kukurantumi, Sankor, Paga, and Sandema and the chiefs and elders of these communities who are often in a much better position to represent the voice of the majority of the people. These traditional leaders, in the case of Ghana, are custodians of the moral and traditional values of our society and we need to recognize that.
It is with this understanding that we offer our support to the Bill put before Parliament. We collectively argue that our national preservation, integrity and right to existence, as human beings and as Ghanaians, is paramount to this debate and therefore we have the sacred obligation to preserve the means by which we procreate and preserve our species like Homo sapiens.
We consider the natural means of sexual relations and procreation in itself a human right, which must be preserved for our very survival.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights does not discriminate against the means by which one individual or a group of persons can potentially undermine the right to existence and self-determination of others. It is therefore left for each nation and people to determine their right to social cohesion and integrity.
For instance, it is traditionally understood by collective experience and indigenous wisdom and practice, that a man and a woman come together as partners in a marriage or civil union to procreate their kind.
We consider this as the natural order, which is also evident in most animal species except for the category of hermaphrodite (a condition where one individual possesses both male and female chromosomes or reproductive organs). Even in reference to the above exception, the organism produces its own kind without any infringement or interference to other unrelated species.
3.0 Conclusions and Recommendations
The thought and concept of LGBTQ+ cannot be another form of genetic modification, which has the abiding potential to threaten human rights to existence, procreation and preservation of homo sapiens.
Thus, proponents and advocates of LGBTQ+ cannot have the moral and ethical right to advance their cause on the basis of the universal human right, where sexual orientation potentially undermines the right to existence of the majority of the people, some of which gave birth to them in the first place.
The activities and practices of LGBTQ+ must be considered an attempt to undermine the human rights of others in society and for which reason this bill set before us is seeking to protect.
They therefore generally endorse the LGBTQ+bill before Parliament to be passed into law for the collective interest of the nation and its people.
Thank you.
Signed:
Name: Apostle Dr Emmanuel Anim
……………………………………..
Name: Apostle Prof Opoku Onyinah
………………………………………
Name: Apostle Dr Alfred Koduah
………………………………………
Name: Aps. Dr. Benjamin Ali
………………………………………
Name Aps. Samuel Gakpetor
………………………………………
Name: Aps. Michael M. Kopah
………………………………………
Name Aps. Dr Amos Jimmy Markin
………………………………………
Name Aps. J. S. Gyimah
………………………………………
Name: Aps. Vincent Anane Denteh
………………………………………
Name: Aps. Abraham Swanzy
………………………………………
Name: Apostle Dr Dela Quampah
………………………………………
Name: Apostle Dr Daniel Walker
…………………………………….
Name: Apostle Dr Samuel Ofori
……………………………………..
Name Apostle Dr Christian Tsekpoe ……………………………………..
Name: Rev Dr Justice Arthur
……………………………………..
Name: Rev Dr Victor Zizer
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Dr Nicholas Darko
………………………………………
Name: Rev Enoch Narh
………………………………………
Name: Rev Abraham Nortey
……………………………………….
Name: Rev. Joshua Appiah
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Francis Broni
……………………………………… Name: Rev. Ebenezer Kpalam
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Patrick Kudadjie
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Joshua Yirenkyi-Smart
.……………………………………
Name: Rev. Emmanuel Oppong Donkor
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Emmanuel Ayisi Mensah
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Isaac Ayisi-Kumi
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Paul Danso
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Emmanuel Awudi
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Emmanuel Ayisi Mensah ………………………………………
Name: Rev. Emmanuel Oppong Donkor
………………………………………
Name: Rev. Ebenezer Hagan
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Freeman Koryekpor Awlesu, Greater Accra Regional Correspondent
